| What is it about human nature that desires to be famous? To be well-known, well-regarded, well-liked on a global scale? Why do people crave even just 15 minutes of fame? Why did I want to be a movie star when I was a kid? Why did my mother before me – a child of the idealistic ‘50s – also love and admire movie stars? (You should see her scrapbooks – some great autographed photos from a time when stars very well may have done the signing themselves!)
I’ve pondered the question before – from a sociological perspective – but I had to ponder it again this morning as I was reading an interesting discussion on the Comcast.net forum. The thread posed the question of who’s more narcissistic, the baby boomer or the Gen-Xer. Amid the comments about self-absorption and social responsibility, one poster proposed that the element of technology is a hefty factor. In short, technology is more and more indulging our need to be known, to be famous. When the Internet first came along, people started building websites about this and that. The field was wide open – anyone could jump in and get recognized. If you were the first one who made a good idea into a site, you could turn it into gold. Then came message boards and forums, then blogs – the ultimate self-indulgence. Why not cut right to the chase and blather on and on about ourselves? Let’s not waste time trying to make a website that we claim is about something other than ourselves. (Of course, with the saturation of personal blogs in recent years, you could wonder, is anyone actually reading?) Then, of course, sites like YouTube took it a step further: Don’t just tell about yourself, show yourself, and maybe you’ll end up on the evening news!
But I really had to like what this poster said (musicka, 11-23-07, 7:17 p.m.) not just for the technology angle but also for the theory of self-entitlement, using the example of parents perhaps over-indulging their children. I think about a couple I know here in Metro Atlanta (baby boomers, by the way), whose basement rec room is full of trophies for their young son. Every time the kid has laced up his heckin’ cleats, he’s gotten a trophy. Gimme a break. Does that kid not expect things to be handed to him as he grows up? Or am I over-exaggerating the point?
At any rate, this kid no doubt believes he’s a “star.”
As do we all.
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