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Why being real is too risky for stars
Hidden reason celebrities cant afford authenticity unveiled
Most stars feel that the expense of honesty and vulnerability in Hollywood is just too high. Though the fans expect stars to “be real”, many dismiss the real dangers of the backlash honesty can evoke.
A celebrity’s career may even fall apart because of a real moment, not to mention the risk of tarnishing the carefully constructed brand.
Britney Spears is a good example of this. During the early 2000s, many in the public eye and the press focused and her freedom and mental health struggles with a blatant lack of compassion.
This is in part because those with authenticity and vulnerability struggles and do not get public sympathy. This is even more the case when the press focus is unrelenting.
The same situation played out with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry after their Oprah Winfrey 2021 interview. Their honesty generated a global discourse, but sparked intense criticism, revealing profound public divides.
The double standard is just as blatant when younger stars are involved. The trolling that Selena Gomez faced after being candid about her lupus and mental health struggles reveals this. The unfiltered persona of Kanye West is another example.
There is a degree of admiration that is coupled with the intense criticism of losing career prospects and relationships.
The dilemma is the paradox of fame, and celebrity is supposed to be someone one can relate to and at the same time someone who cannot touch. The people desire unpolished truth but are always ready to criticize it when it does not match their anticipations.
This conflict has gone up in social media where performers like Lizzo have always been body-shamed even though they are advocates of authenticity and self-love, as per Rolling Stone.
Essentially, being real subjects the celebrities to a world that lives on one that destroys those who deviate. To most, it is safer to stay behind the well-controlled personas than run the risk of honesty that can lead to career suicide.
Whether fans desire authenticity or just a sanitized version of it is a debate that is here to stay. As long as the society will not alter its reaction, being real will remain too much to many celebrities to deal with.