On fame
16/06/2019: Three stories capturing three different reactions to personal fame in reflection on Hank Green's book An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Is fame what anyone in the world should want?Time flows and I feel I should do more with this blog. I don't thirst for the influencer title or think that my worldviews and experience could change the world. The truth is, I am well aware of the danger both of these junctions bring enormous degree of responsibility, that most of us would probably not be able to handle. Honestly, even those who have been in such positions often fail to maintain the so much necessary distance between their public and private lives. And ultimately, even though they might say that the papparazi are everywhere and everyone is longing for gossip, it is their and only their fault. And it often costs them their career, reputation, and in marginal cases even their lives.
There was this Czech singer and actress, who became fairly sucessful, and one could even say quite rich. She starred in major motion pictures and some great musicals, and became well known for her princess roles. I don’t have the taste to judge, but rumor has it she was pretty, especially in young age. Her first marriage, that lasted almost a whole year, was a number one press event for about two weeks. Needless to say it was expensive. But she had personal issues. And she was stupid enough to expose them in reality TV shows. When she ended up inside a detox ward of the biggest and greatest psychiatric hospital in the country, the media obviously caught up to her. And that’s where she was tilted for good. There were attempts of her second husband to drag her out of the claws of ethanol addiction. How stupid of him. She began to e-mail and call the various tabloids about how he imprisoned her somewhere, and what a jerk he was. I have no idea how the guy persisted so long, but she fled from him at last. And continued drinking. And then, probably due to the omnipresent crowd of reporters standing at her front gate, or maybe in result of the delusions associated with being an alcoholic, she picked the most cowardly way of solving the problem. She ran into a train. No, wait… The train ran into her, that’s what happened. They had to close the station. What a poser. She was everywhere. And somehow, so many trusted her side of the story. Anyway - if you are a celebrity dealing with alcoholism, avoid at all costs interacting with the media. Go live somewhere safe. Take the greater method of escape before you are only left with the sad one.
Another, far more honorable story is that of Likkrit, a professional League of Legends player, who was called out for an offensive statement made publicly, on his stream. Even though he was well known for being an exemplary player respectful toward his opponents at the professional stage and massively supportive toward his salty teammates, he received a half-season ban from official events. And that was end of his career. By his decision, which he announced in front of great crowd, stressing and explaining his reasoning. Even though there is not much thirst for gossip in the e-sports world, he stepped down at a stage when he was in full control of his own future. And he did it right, even though it meant a bitter end to his succesful career, which brought him a fair share of wealth, too.
The difference is, that we remember those two individuals in a completely different way. Both of them made mistakes, for which they were undeniably responsible. But one of them has taken his share of the blame, and moved on, while the other made a scene. Nobody cares about that actress today. But we, the slav players and fans of League of Legends remember Likkrit as one of the most resilient and fair players who made it all the way past the group stage of the world championship in spite of not particularly excelling in the dynamics of the game and in spite of not playing along with an all-star team.
The all time-best approach toward being a widely known individual? John Green, and I fully agree with him, roots for Keanu Reeves. I know absolutely nothing about him. Except for the fact that he stars in insane movies, that are really hard to watch all the way to the end. I mean, I managed it and it was fun, but it left me exhausted and somehow empty-headed.
But the thing is that nowadays, social media platform offer the chance of becoming a publicly acknowledged, and constantly followed, individual literally overnight. And that is a whole new story. A story that Hank Green writes about in his wonderfully constructed beletry structured textbook An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. The only thing left to say is that if you read all the way here, you should read it.
And that I will start interacting with the social media platforms more and try to bring exactly that kind of audience that will benefit from reading my posts. The kind of people that want to pay attention to interesting details that might remain hidden to them. Those who like to observe thinking processes of others. Those who wonder what it’s like to go through experiences that are so fucking hard to deal with. Those that I have. Stories that many still don’t believe.
