Judging Celebrities...And Ourselves
Our issues always come from somewhere. What I mean by that is that, there’s always a root cause or a set of incidents of some sort that drives us to behave in specific ways.
That’s not to suggest our behaviors are always justified, rather that there’s a reason behind them. Something that has happened to us, or that we’ve experienced, that’s led us to interpret that experience in a particular way, develop particular judgements (or ideas or perceptions) and then act (or react) accordingly.
Many times, we react well and develop good habits, and at other times, we act out. We get short with others, we’re curt or display other forms of bad behavior. Immaturity certainly plays a part in the interpretive process (and hence the reactions), but many times, there are more deep rooted issues, things that can’t be brushed away as the actions of youth. Issues that are serious and deserving of attention (often professional attention).
I was reminded of this as I watched a New York Times documentary on Britney Spears and the conservatorship she’s been living under for the last 12+ years. It documented her rise to fame and the behaviors and issues and experiences that she’s dealt with over the year that ultimately led to the conservatorship being put in place.
At surface level, as I watched many of those events unfold over the years in the media, I’d think, well, that’s juvenile, or isn’t that classic popstar behavior, etc. They were casual judgements, brush-offs made without much thought, based on what was right in front of me, influenced by the conventional wisdom of how we expect celebrities to behave.
But the reality is that there were issues - issues arising from her youth, her environment, the double standards with regards gender, celebrity culture and the paparazzi, and likely so much more. All of these factors came together in this complex brew that led to an individual - a child - behave and react the way she did.
And I brushed it all off as the ‘expected’ actions of some popstar, with scant regard for the fact that she’s actually in trouble.
It’s the same with rock stars and drug abuse, questionable behavior, etc. We can sit at home and say, that’s how they are, but the fact of the matter is, these are people in trouble. The fact that they’re wealthy and living lives few of us can have is beside the point. Their humanity is lost in these casual judgements that we make, that I made.
But it’s not just rockstars, though, is it? Scale this down to our own relatively ‘normal’ levels and we see that same sorts of issues. The colleague with a problem, a bad behavior, an issue we experience in terms of how they act and react on an ongoing basis. Maybe it isn’t always because they’re just bad, or they’re like that. Maybe we shouldn’t be quite so quick to make a judgement.
Maybe it’s because there’s something more going on than what we see. And maybe that’s deserving of some understanding, some sympathy, possibly even some attention.
