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Aguilera: Sick and Tired | |
| Posted on Thursday, April 19 @ 21:28:48 EDT
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The downsides to being a celebrity. The pressures that pop stars endure. We hear about these concepts on a regular basis, but do they really exist? Sure, it would be annoying to require security guards wherever you go, or to have the media hounding you constantly, but what about the money? The fame? Most non-celebrities assume that the benefits heavily outweigh the downfalls. Who feels pity for those that seem to have it all? I unwittingly learned a bit about what the other side thinks of the situation. Here is a true story for you to contemplate as you question the acts of celebrities.
Last year, a few weeks prior to my senior prom, it was revealed to the school that a freshman had won "The Prom of Your Life" contest. The prize was a live performance, during prom, from Christina Aguilera. The school was excited. Thirty or so random students were selected to have the opportunity to meet Christina and get her autograph after her set. Being the ardent journalist that I am, I managed to get added onto the list in hopes of an interview. The director of the prom informed me I could get some sort of interview if I didn't use cameras.
Prom rolled around and expectations were high. There was a stage set up in front of the building. The males in the audience were hoping that Christina would fancy them and whisk them away to a life of luxury. I imagined an intense interview that would place me at the height of rock journalism. The performance was to be about 30 minutes long. Time came for the show, Christina came out, sang two songs, and left. She mentioned that she didn't feel well, but nevertheless the crowd, including me, was disappointed. I proceeded to the room where the autographing was taking place, and hopefully my interview. She came in, the students were marched by for autographs and then marched out of the room. No interview for me.
Disappointed in the performance and my lack of a stellar article, I wrote a letter to the official Aguilera website. It was a scathing, sarcastic number that was harsh, and I was very proud of it the time. It stressed that I felt my school was disrespected and would have been better off had the kid not won the contest. Here is an excerpt:
"..she was ushered in and we were quickly herded into a line, allowed a single autograph, and pushed out the door. The winner of the contest enjoyed a quick token on-camera conversation before she skipped away.......The school has been let down by a "gift.""
A few days later, I surprisingly got a response....from Christina Aguilera's mother. My email had released quite a lot of wrath. From this email I learned that Christina was in fact very ill and had to cancel the next two weeks of performances. My remorse built as I read through an email the size of a small research paper. Aguilera's mother's reply was more than an email, it was a snapshot of what goes on in the life of a pop star.
"Did it ever occur to you that perhaps you have never in your entire life had to be ‘on’ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for people who only criticize your best effort and that you never have been as sick as she was and still had to do what she did? You truly, truly have NO idea what she's been through."
"I am SO tired of hearing people complain and spread rumors and lies and on be unappreciative all because she can't be the peppy machine that she's required to be. Please remember that your group and your school was only one of millions---MILLIONS!--of people pulling at her and pushing her every single day. People just don't realize. They look at stars and all they see is glamour. It's hard work and often no matter how much you care for the fans and no matter how you give literally your last drop of energy, you get turned up noses and criticism."
"I'm sorry if this sounds harsh. People in the spotlight usually avoid such blunt honesty when dealing with the public because usually you can't win. We end up in the weekend tabloids or the gossip columns of your local newspapers, either quoted out of text or misquoted entirely. So celebrities usually are forced to just smile through the hurt, knowing full well that if we try to educate people as to how things truly are, it only is blown out of proportion by media and we end up portrayed as vicious or nasty or mean, whether we're right or not. The life we live, thanks to media and the odd tendency to morph stars into some sort of non-human, fantasy entertainment machines, is very stressful."
"It's very, very easy for those in comfortable, normal, routine lives to gossip, criticize, pass judgement."
"Please. Go beyond just saying that you know she's got a crazy schedule and try in some small way to picture what it's like long enough to start to actually maybe feel some of what I'm feeling. People have no way of knowing, and even when you try to tell many, they aren't really interested. They just want their show, and want it done the way they have it pictured in their minds at all costs, and if it's not done that way, heaven help the artist. "
"I hope, I really, really hope, that I've helped in some way to open your eyes and those of all you talk to, about the sacrifice my daughter made to be there ---and she did it with love! She didn't have to!!! She wouldn't have lost a thing if she didn't show up. She just wanted to not let you all down. She was so sick. Please...please appreciate it."
"All you guys see is the surface. The rest, you imagine. And it's often so very different from reality."
I felt bad because Christina was in fact very sick, so I sent an apology letter to the website. I've never heard back from them. So what is the moral to this story? I was obviously in error for making an ignorant assessment of the situation. It looks like celebrities are stuck in a career long predicament, the media that they despise for putting their lives under a microscope is the same media that allows them to become so popular and create so much revenue. The instinctive remedy is to simply eradicate popular music, MTV, VH1, and CD technology. Then the world of music could become the trading of homemade tapes over Rootnode.org. Until that glorious day comes, I'll leave you to make your own judgments and to write for rootnode till your fingers bleed and your skin gets an eery monitor tan.
Got an opinion biatch? Go here and spit it, and read what other folks have to say.
Think life is tough for those in the limelight?
Read about what its like to be in the shadows
in our interview with a Rock Band just starting out.
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