JFF: Would You Want to Be Famous?

Updated on July 02, 2012
E.D. asks from Olympia, WA
25 answers

Growing up my sister always wanted to be famous. A famous model, a famous actress, a famous X, Y, Z. I have a couple of teenagers in my life and a few of them have similar dreams.

Me personally? Never struck me as desirable. I'd rather be poor and anonymous than rich and famous. I just came across the question about celebrity divorces and was thinking about how hard divorce is no matter what. Can you imagine going through that with the press analyzing your every move? I mean, and that's the hard stuff no matter who you are or what level of publicity you face, but I can't imagine sharing my happiest moments with the whole world either.

My daughter's birth, my wedding - I had to be convinced and babied by my mom and best friends to have a ceremony at all. We did a meet the baby party instead of a baby shower, and that was lovely because the attention was on my little one (celebration worthy indeed!)

It's funny, I'm not a very shy person at all and sometimes I love being the center of attention, and I don't have secrets (discretions, yes, but many people know everything there is to know about me), but being in the lime light? Recorded and followed and dissected? Yikes. Wouldn't be my cup of tea. I don't think I'd hold up very well. I think I'd end up having a public meltdown in two days flat!

Any way, I've gone on a tangent, but the point was: How 'bout you? Given the opportunity, would you want to be famous? And if so, for what? What about if you didn't have money or fancy things as a result of your fame, would it still be worth it?

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K.M.

answers from Kansas City on

No, I would not want to be stalked and photographed daily. Living in a fish bowl would be extremely difficult. However, I'd like to be rich!

2 moms found this helpful

K.G.

answers from Boca Raton on

Nope!
Have absolutely NO interest in having my life tormented by paparazzi, stalked, blogged about, hunted down, etc... I would end like acting like Alec Baldwin :)

2 moms found this helpful
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M.L.

answers from Colorado Springs on

When I was younger I thought I wanted to be famous. I think what I really wanted to be was a success - to be able to do things other people would appreciate.

But it certainly seems that fame and celebrity tend to own you, once you have them. I wouldn't want to be ruled by the fact that others look at me - believing that being noticed is the most important thing. That's not the way to be Somebody. It's a rare person, apparently, who can take fame and do something positive with it, instead of being "done to" by it.

2 moms found this helpful

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

Nope.

I'll take rich and obscure, though!

5 moms found this helpful

C.M.

answers from Washington DC on

I would, but only for the money, lol! I'm so sick and tired of struggling every month just to make rent and so yes, it would be tempting.
BUT, I do think famous people are WAY over paid. There are a lot of people who can't even buy food and who work very hard and do not have much. I do think famous people do need enough money to survive and maybe a little extra, but no where near as much as they get
sorry for my rant

3 moms found this helpful

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

OOOOH HE$$ NO!!!

Why would I want a camera in my face every day? Why would I want that in my life?

Money does not make a person happy. Yeah - it helps. But if you have to forsake your values, morals and integrity for it? Is it really worth it?

Would I love to be a millionaire or billionaire? YES!! I can imagine EARNING it one day. Come up with the RIGHT IDEA or product that would sell like hotcakes. YAHOO!!!

I still want to be able to go the grocery store and live my life. Go to my son's la crosse games and baseball games with out a load of people following me or my kids.

And my nephew told me it was not fun for him. He was a 3rd round draft pick for the Houston Astros. After games girls would wait outside the locker rooms and player area throwing themselves at him and other players. Underwear, bras...and such.....yeah - at first it's thrilling!!! to have people "want" you - but after a while? No. thanks. You can't even go to the bathroom without someone following you.

3 moms found this helpful
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M.G.

answers from Seattle on

Yes because then I would be thought of as eccentric instead of weird. :P In all honesty though I'd never want to be famous for anything other than something worthy of fame which in my opinion is not acting or sports, but true accomplishments such as being the person to come up with a cure for AIDS or cancer. Those types of things to me are worthy of fame.

2 moms found this helpful

A.S.

answers from Iowa City on

I wouldn't mind being Mother Teresa famous but I would never want to be Kristen Stewart famous.

Fame for curing a disease or feeding the hungry, sure. Fame for loving a vampire or being a sports star...no thanks.

2 moms found this helpful

N.P.

answers from San Francisco on

Heck no. Not for me, thank you. All I want is a cabin in the woods connected to some speedy internet, a library of books at my disposal and a river out back that I may fish in, should the mood strike me. The only way I'd even remotely want to be famous is because of any books I may have published, but even then, I'd publish under a nom de plume and stay away from book tours and promotional ventures, preferring to let the work stand on its own merits.

I'd like to anonymously walk past a book store just in time to witness someone pick up something I wrote and thumb through it, too engrossed to even make it to the register before hitting chapter three.

That would make me very happy.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

occasionally I dream about it. and how life would be. but the dream only includes the positives. For me personally the positives do not outweigh the negatives.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.T.

answers from New York on

No thanks, unless it was for writing some spectacular best seller. I would never want to be so famous that I have people chasing me in the store to find out what kind of cat litter I buy or to have my picture all over the media purchasing toilet paper.

1 mom found this helpful
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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I used to stand on the cellar in the back yard and sing my heart out. I'd be belting out "These Boots Are Made For Walking" or Harper Valley PTA" or some gospel hit by The Imperials, The Rambo's, and anyone who was anyone was on the Gospel Jubilee on Sunday mornings.

I was singing when I got up, all day, then when I was going to sleep I was listening to KOMA or WKY. I also listened to KJIL and other Christian radio.

I know I had a call on my life to sing. I made choices that took that call away. My life could have been different. Perhaps if I had made the choices to do what I was supposed to do I would not be a poor middle aged woman raising grandchildren in near poverty.

So, if I were supposed to be a singer and perhaps along with that was fame and fortune I would hope that I would be a compassionate person who would help those who didn't have the fortune I did. I would love to just have enough money that I didn't have to stand in the isles of Walmart and start crying while I am trying to decide if I can afford 4 boxes of Great value mac and Cheese instead or 3.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

I think I am much happier working in women's health for a global testing laboratory and saving someone's life (like today!!) from the back ground. I have done print ads, commercials and catalogs...never thought I would be famous through it but it was fun.

My 19 year old daughter doesn't want it for her self but certainly has had plenty of exposure to actors. She went to Sea World Camp four summers in a row (=$$$$ from her parents) and there were always quite a few "child stars" who were really cool kids. Maybe because they had to do everything just like everyone else, it was great. She still keeps in touch.
She also works with a "reality" star who is truly the nicest guy ever. He still gets paid for appearances and is the most devoted family guy ever.

I get what you mean my not being the center of attention, my wedding was very small. I didn't do a a baby shower...we adopted our niece and never would have felt right until that was all over.

1 mom found this helpful

T.M.

answers from Redding on

Nope, I would hate to have to have make up on and brushed hair every minute of every day.
The paparazzi would have lots of pics of me in my catfur covered robe drinking yesterdays coffee.

1 mom found this helpful
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H.P.

answers from Houston on

I used to, until I started doing things that I didn't want everybody to know about. I hope that my son won't want to be President.

1 mom found this helpful

R.A.

answers from Boston on

I would love to meet famous people, but I,myself, no thanks. I hate the spotlight in general, so that wouldn't work. If anything it would be for writing or in my work.

1 mom found this helpful
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T.M.

answers from Tampa on

Nope...never had any desire at all to be famous.... Now, I come from pretty poor circumstances so I've always wanted to be rich :)

1 mom found this helpful

V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

No. I have no desire to be famous. I too, had a very good friend in college that would have loved to have been famous (so she claimed)... but it has never held any appeal for me. I don't even like to get "public" credit for things I've done. I'm much more of a one-on-one type person.

No thank you. They can keep their fame, and I'll keep my privacy.

1 mom found this helpful

C.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

No way! Living so close to the city of angels I automatically think of actors and the business when I think of being famous. I don't think you could pay me enough money to be under a microscope everyday. Too much pressure and such an abnormal existence.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.H.

answers from Omaha on

I saw the movie Rock of Ages last week and wondered why anyone would crave that celebrity lifestyle? It might be fun being adored by so many and having more riches than one could ever dream, but I think it would get old or feel suffocating pretty darn quick IMO! I also had to wonder how much of a departure
Tom Cruise's character was from his real life. Handlers always saying yes (for their own benefit made off of the celebrity's fame and fortune) when clearly the celebrity was in a downward spiral. We see the ugly side all too often anymore...Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan,Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson etc.... The stress has to be SO overwhelming to be under the microscope like that. I have never understood why people find that attractive.
I used to wonder what that kind of lifestyle was like, but now thanks to reality tv, we pretty much get to see it on full display. I look at those little tots like Mason Kardashian and think-does this kid even stand a chance to realize that the things of this world are not everlasting? That having the best of the best or compromising your integrity for ratings IS NOT the road to true happiness and fulfillment? I find it to be very sad and thank God for my little life in suburban Nebraska!
A.

1 mom found this helpful

A.R.

answers from Houston on

Oh, sure, fame sounds terrific, doesn't it? Give up my privacy, my right to privacy, my freedom to do whatever/whenever without scrutiny, and my anonymity? Oh boy, where can I sign up? Maybe when I get done signing up we can jumpstart things by scrutinizing me on Twitter or some blog or the morning news shows. I so cannot wait. The very best part you may ask? I can drag my loving family with me through the mud...I mean fame. If I am super lucky, maybe I can screw up my kids beyond all belief. An early alcohol problem perhaps? Maybe a drug habit as a preteen? Routine and mundane...it's so overrated.

1 mom found this helpful
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K..

answers from Phoenix on

Nope! I enjoy my modest anonymity just fine, thank you very much! I am happy with the least amount of attention possible & don't like anyone knowing by business. I wouldn't make a very good famous person.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.G.

answers from Chicago on

When I was like ten maybe but definnatley not anymore. I would never want anything in my life such I my divorce or relationship told to the whole world.

1 mom found this helpful

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Oh HELL no!
I was a drama geek, loved being in school plays, and I was a dancer and a cheerleader. So yes, I always loved performing in front of a crowd but that's a whole lot different than being famous.
I feel bad for today's celebrities. So many of them love singing, dancing, acting, basically PERFORMING, but that doesn't always mean they have an interest in being famous and having their every move followed and photographed and dissected. Fame and talent are not the same thing at all. Any reality TV show will show you that. They are two VERY different things.

1 mom found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

No way! I don't want my neighbors to hear my arguement with my husband. Let alone the press! Good Lord! It's no wonder that so many famous people divorce. No privacy= no good!

1 mom found this helpful
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