De-Program Yourself: Shun the Cult of Celebrity

As a kid, I had a road map of Los Angeles. Sometimes I unfolded it, and let the enigmatic lure of Hollywood percolate up through the cross hatch of streets and avenues. Red highways, blue water, white background, black streets. My dream destination, Hollywood, California!

In movie magazines, I pored over the glossy photographs, studying the actresses. While I turned the pages, I spoke their names like a litany. How I scrutinized their smooth hairdos, red lips, shapely legs, long, glamorous gowns, every artfully mascaraed eyelash, each subtly rouged cheek, even the sleek curve of a bare shoulder. With these images planted in my head, I mimicked seductive poses in the mirror on my mother’s dressing table.

Eight years old, and already a celebrity hound. A few years later, Marilyn Monroe was my idol, and I aped her poses in my own bedroom mirror. Then I started high school and got a life.

Being interested in famous people is normal, but it can be carried too far.



How far is too far? Do you fixate on TomKat and baby Suri? Over-involved in Linday or Brittney’s rehab?
Do you think Your celebrity has a desire to me you and get your opinions and guidance?
You have CWS? Celebrity Worship Syndrome. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JQP/is_363/ai_111617817 John F. Schumaker
According to Schumaker, CWS is an obsessive-addictive disorder, affecting both sexes equally. It’s a growing concern to mental health professions. A research team at a British University found that 1/3 of residents of Great Britian have it. Think Princess Di brouhaha, still in the news today.

This is a Schumaker’s description of the syndrome and how badly it can affect people. "The worst affected inhabit a tense, joyless world ruled by delusions and pipedreams about a celebrity who has been distorted into an empty parody. Once possessed by their celebrity demons, they become solitary, anti-social, impulsive and even self-destructive. One young CWS victim, hearing that her pop idol had become engaged, crawled into a bath and slashed her neck, arms and legs. She survived and explained: 'She's going to change him if he gets married and I'm not going to live with that.'
. . . Those with less intense CWS can still function, but their neurotic over-involvement with 'their' celebrity consumes lots of time, energy and income. "
Just what we all need: more time, energy and income. Hey!

If you are obsessed with celebrities, or if you have CWS, what is the cure?

It’s like breaking any bad habits:
Make a resolution: I will give up celebrities and spend more time with my a) spouse b) kids c)hamster d)The Red Sox

Identify what trips you up: change your scandal rag to a more serious paper. Read the New York Times or Wall St. Journal – only the news that’s fit to print.
Don’t buy People, or worse! Don’t watch that movie, listen to that CD, Avoid E! and VH1. You’re getting there.
Put pen to paper – write down your thoughts, feelings, large or small successes (I went one whole day without Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Tom Brady, Brangelina
Find a friend with CWA and do it together
Reward Yourself - go to a concert, see a good movie; get a massage.
Vow to become an expert on a more serious subject : the war, any war, global warming, the polar bear, the Red Sox
Have Peapod deliver your groceries so you don’t have to stand in a super-market checkout line and see all those rotten tempting magazines.

Are my celebrity obsessed days behind me? Yes they are. I have to confess that for a time I even confused Jessica Simpson, and The Simpson’s cartoons show on television. I didn’t know who Anne Nicole Smith was.

It’s all right to know who people in the news are. It’s not all right to live your life through them. You probably already have a life. If you don’t, get one.