What is the 2009 definition of fame? Fame is such a distorted noun that there is not one single definition of it. You could have your 15 minutes such as Octomom, Jon and Kate Gosselin, Heidi Montag, and many individuals that have come to be associated with the term fame through the means of reality TV, tabloid papers, medical mistakes, or anything that causes your personal value to be worth as much as your duration in the media spotlight. Fame is like a shooting star; you are able to hold onto it for a little while, and then it disappears across the horizon leaving you where you originally stood. Yet many of the individuals (including those listed above) try to hold onto this shooting star hoping that it will lead them to a position of becoming a permanent star (coincidental word choice btw). I don't need to list any individuals, because all you need to do is open US Weekly and their daily attempts to accomplish this impossible task through "shocking" manners will make it all clear to you. Some have actually succeeded in doing so, yet their only reason for success is due to the previous status of respectability they had, but because of ever-changing interest of fans, their status has slowly begun to diminish into the shadows of forgotten celebrities. And as always, no one likes demotions, so you attempt to stay up there even if it means shaving your head, changing your sexual orientation, releasing "personal videos", or creating television shows in which you search for a best friend that will worship you because everyone else has long stopped at doing so.
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I will never have much respect for these individuals. The people I do have respect for are those that do not use their fame to gain it. These individuals are not concerned with what others think, or with how many google hits they had that day, or if they were on the TMZ homepage. They are concerned with their own personal fulfillment that is usually gained through their careers or interests. Fame is only a byproduct; appreciated and not desperately sought.
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Take Grace Jones for example. 61 years old, has been out of the spotlight for almost the entire duration of my life (as her last album was about 20 years ago), and when I rediscovered her music I gained such incredible respect for this woman (that many have not heard of) because her vocal talent puts many new age artist to level of musical incompetence. Now, I know this blog has been pointing towards the direction of media fame, but since it is common grounds for both my readers and myself, it is the only reason I decided to use such examples. However, we all have our own definitions of respectable fame. If you aspire to become a photographer, your definition of fame might be attached to Steven Klein. If you are aspire to be a lawyer, it might be Johnnie Cochran. If you aspire to be a doctor it might be Christiaan Barnard. Whoever the celebrity of your aspiration is, his or her fame is the one you should want because they are the ones that usually succeed at gaining a permanent star position. Not those whose picture is starting at you while you wait in a grocery store line.
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