[Kerrigan]

Celebrity implosions have been around forever, of course, with people like James Dean or Michael Jackson getting burnt for living on the edge. But in just the past couple years, there seems to be a big increase in the number of celebrities who just implode under the weight of their fame.

In the last couple years, the biggest names in entertainment seem to have taken self-destructive paths:

Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse, etc. Some become crazy recluses, some sink into despair, others run off the rails and get depressed, and sadly some overdose.

Some celebrities even try and make a name for themselves by staring in shows which showcase their pathetic state, such as Danny Bonaduce, or those people who appear on VH1's Celebrity Rehab.

What is it that is making them lose their sense of sanity or stability? Have more big name stars been losing their marbles lately? And what does it say about the public, who savor and laugh at things like Britney Spears' breakdown or Michael Jackson's descent into body dysmorphic disorder and pedophilia?

[Atomic Rooster]

They're just like anybody else but you won't read about you or I in the scandal rags. I was quite the terror in my younger days but I've slowed down since entering the old fart part of my life.

[Kerrigan]

Right, I agree that for the most part they are just like anybody else. However, I think one could argue that the sorts of people who are drawn to the dramatic arts have a different temperament and can sometimes handle pressure differently. When this is played out on a grand scale, the truly ordinary people (you and I) feed into it, perhaps fueling their implosion.

It makes me wonder how these celebrities view us. It is like we are on one side, watching them break down without any sense of it being real, and they view us as equally unreal, like a faceless mass of people who made them famous and then smile and facilitate their downfall. It must be very strange to be a celebrity.

[Rumor]

What happened to John Travolta?

Also, who the hell is Amy Winehouse?

[Apemanblues]

I've seen lot's of 'ordinary people' loose their sense of sanity and stability too. It's quite common.

The papers aren't interested in them though.

[Oisín]

Also, who the hell is Amy Winehouse?

“They told me to go to rehab, but I said nooo, nooo, no-no-no...”

(And aren’t they saying Ledger’s death was likely accidental?)

[Apemanblues]

Originally Posted by Rumor 

What happened to John Travolta?

He's in the closet with Tom. Oh ma gaaad.

YouTube - John Travolta

[Mastrap]

With talent often comes insecurity. Am I good enough? Will I be able to deliver? How long will I be loved by the public? What if things go wrong? Am I too thin, too fat? And that can lead to all sorts of ****.

[Mastrap]

dp.

[MacosNerd]

I think its part losing touch with reality. I mean many of these people are out in left field.
then there's the pressure of being famous and being in the spotlight, I'm sure that's got to mess you up.

[starman]

Boredom? They go to work, do a shoot, they're off work for a few weeks/months at a time. That's my guess.

[Dork.]

Implosions happen when the pressure outside an object is so much greater than the pressure inside an object that the objects' internal structure can't take it and the object collapses, or when the internal structure of an object is compromised to the extent that it can't handle normal external pressures anymore and collapses.

Maybe more celebrities ought to learn physics....

[Dakar the Fourth]

Too much money, too little direction. Best guess I have.

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Too much money, too little direction. Best guess I have.

That I'm sure has a lot to do with it. Look at the britney train she's got too much money, had too little direction from her up bringing and even now she's surronded by people who will say anything to her just so they stay close.

[Dakar the Fourth]

While I'm sure her upbringing contributed, I'm trying to point out that once you have reached your goal of being famous and/or rich, you need to find new direction. For Britney, she mistakenly thought getting married, then having kids was it. Apparently not.

[MacosNerd]

Yet many people also fall into that trap, thinking marriage or kids will make you happy. Most who do and then realize that's not the case don't typically implode.

[PaperNotes]

Excuses aside it is obvious attention hungry arseholes who couldn't get a real job or do any serious work are attracted to the camera and lavish celebrity lifestyles and it is only a matter of time when their egos and false sense of power catch up with them.

[PaperNotes]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

That I'm sure has a lot to do with it. Look at the britney train she's got too much money, had too little direction from her up bringing and even now she's surronded by people who will say anything to her just so they stay close.

Actually she had tons of direction and she is an egomaniacal moron.

[PaperNotes]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse, etc. Some become crazy recluses, some sink into despair, others run off the rails and get depressed, and sadly some overdose.

Cruise : Wanted to be a priest before he tried acting. That says everything.
Jackson : No excuses. He's a wanker.
Gibson : Wanker.
Ledger : Had a complex about his small willy so he tried to make up for it by sleeping around a lot. Ex wanker.
Smith : Obviously didn't implode. Tit wanker.
Hilton : Wanker.
Lohan : Wanker.
Winehouse : Strong voice but still a wanker.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

Yet many people also fall into that trap, thinking marriage or kids will make you happy. Most who do and then realize that's not the case don't typically implode.

Most usually are too busy to.

[OldManMac]

As someone else correctly pointed out, it happens to all people in all walks of life. We just hear about celebrities because we're obsessed with sticking our nose in other people's business, and we get to do so with celebrities because they're famous. They're famous because we're obsessed with things that aren't important in our lives, but we continue our obsessions because we'd rather not face reality.

[PaperNotes]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

They're famous because we're obsessed with things that aren't important in our lives, but we continue our obsessions because we'd rather not face reality.

Most of the ones mentioned here are famous because they want to shove themselves down everyone's throats. In Jackson's case it was kid's throats

[d4nth3m4n]

Originally Posted by Apemanblues 

I've seen lot's of 'ordinary people' loose their sense of sanity and stability too. It's quite common.

The papers aren't interested in them though.

i'd say you're spot on there. toss in the usual burnout of the early 20s with the money to do just about anything and you get some good headlines.

but the bigger question is, what are you doing up at 3am there, sine? isn't that past your bedtime?

[RobOnTheCape]

Think of a regular person who just wants to act, and finally makes it. Now in order to stay "it", you have to behave, dress, mingle etc.. in a certain way. You have many people now depending on you to keep being successful. You can't go anyway without people mobbing you whether they are ordinary fans or papparazzi. Also, think of how difficult it is knowing that so many people who want to be with you want to be with you the star, meaning they want something whether it be money or be a star simply by association. You would always be questioning peoples intent and never know for certain if a person is really interested in you as a person.

Roll all that together with most people have issues inside them,but aren't in the spotlight 24/7 and I can see how it can be a tricky thing to balance.

[osiris]

Fu*king pressure to look great, act great, be great and make fans happy 24/7/365. Oh, and you can't go ANYWHERE without being hassled by someone for something. You can't even go to a museum with your kid.
And if you don't top what you did last week, the tabloids will crucify you, then the fans, and then you end up on the cover of People magazine as the latest rehab star.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by osiris 

Oh, and you can't go ANYWHERE without being hassled by someone for something. You can't even go to a museum with your kid.

It's true, the internet age seems to have exacerbated the problem. Before a few print tabloids were hunting for some risque or embarrassing pics. Now you got 10 internet blogs hunting you down just to see you enjoy a gordita.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

Celebrity implosions have been around forever, of course, with people like James Dean or Michael Jackson getting burnt for living on the edge.

Just to set the record straight. James Dean was in no way responsible for his car wreck. The other driver crossed over into Dean's lane and hit him head-on.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

It's true, the internet age seems to have exacerbated the problem. Before a few print tabloids were hunting for some risque or embarrassing pics. Now you got 10 internet blogs hunting you down just to see you enjoy a gordita.

I think there's a TV show that focuses on these bloodsucking leaches.

[Chongo]

what crack does to a once good looking woman

[Dakar the Fourth]

Yeah, I'm sure the missing teeth weren't a factor. Or the dementia.

[osiris]

Skinny, skinny, fat pig... is there no middle ground?

[Big Mac]

I think a variety of factors are involved. I think many celebrities are probably less than well balanced human beings to begin with, and that when they attain celebrity status even more strain gets put on psychological structures that were never designed to hold such loads. They have to deal with lives of opulence and excess, all the while knowing that tomorrow they could easily wake up to find that they are now embroiled in some career killing scandal or even worse - they could find that they have become yesterday's news.

They have to cope with excess at all times - excessive fame, excessive food and drink, excessive substances, excessive sexual options. They have to struggle to find themselves while in the limelight, a celebrity culture that simultaneously idolizes and vilifies them. They try to find meaning in life, with many coming to realize that they don't really know how to live properly, what to believe in, or even how to believe in anything. They probably also struggle with the fact that the throngs who idolize them think they define perfection and can do no wrong. Therefore, they often become deluded and self-destructive, looking for any temporary fix or high they can and burning the candle at both ends.

Originally Posted by Chongo 

what crack does to a once good looking woman

I can say this as a fellow Jew, she was never good looking.

[ort888]

I also blame the recent upsurge in interest in stories like this. Gossip sites like TMZ and Perez Hilton, stupid TV shows, even CNN. Everyone is focusing on these people and it becomes a self-fulfilling spiral of shame.

As for why they go nuts in the first place. Well, it's pretty simple really. They get a God complex. Everywhere they go they are treated like Gods. People kissing their ass, hanging on their every word, worshiping them... Everywhere.

It eventually drives people mad.

[abe]

Originally Posted by RobOnTheCape 

Think of a regular person who just wants to act, and finally makes it. Now in order to stay "it", you have to behave, dress, mingle etc.. in a certain way. You have many people now depending on you to keep being successful. You can't go anyway without people mobbing you whether they are ordinary fans or papparazzi. Also, think of how difficult it is knowing that so many people who want to be with you want to be with you the star, meaning they want something whether it be money or be a star simply by association. You would always be questioning peoples intent and never know for certain if a person is really interested in you as a person.

Roll all that together with most people have issues inside them,but aren't in the spotlight 24/7 and I can see how it can be a tricky thing to balance.

Amen!

That is it EXACTLY!

I have had several opportunities to experience small time celebrity and I will attest it is not for everybody.

[Kerrigan]

MacNN fame does not count, abe

[abe]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

MacNN fame does not count, abe

I have a blessing/curse to be extremely attractive or interesting to people, no matter what I do.

Thank you & damn you for saying so, Kerrigan.





Meek as a lamb.