The Loss of Fame: Psychological Implications

This article “The Loss of Fame” discusses the different types of issues that celebrities have to deal with in respects to their fame and the impact these issues can create on one’s self.  It also talks about the loss of fame of the celebrity and how the celebrity deals with that loss.

There are several psychological effects for the price of fame.  The celebrity utilizes his fame to behave in appropriate ways that would be considered breaking the rules, which are the same rules that we as ordinary people must follow.  Because of their status, they expect to be exempt from these rules.  Celebrities must also maintain a certain standard and appearance of themselves that is expected from their peers and fans.  They have to deal with the public’s demand to always do better.  Their private life becomes nonexistent and making friends is not easy since it is hard to identify the person who wants to be a real true friend and one that just wants to be a fan inside the inner circle of the celebrity’s life.  A celebrity’s life is not always the perfect life like we see on television.  There are many myths about celebrities that make us believe they live a high party lifestyle living in this perfect world of theirs.  But in reality, they are just like us, just a little richer.
What happens when they lose their fame?  There are three things that can happen, clinging, reinventing, and downward spiral.  All three of these factors can have dramatic effects to the celebrity but the most devastating one is the downward spiral.  Some celebrities who lose their fame and try very hard to re-gain it only to be unsuccessful cannot cope with this loss.  Many times not having the ability to cope with this loss leads to depression, drugs and even suicide.  An example is Judy Garland who became famous as Dorothy on the Wizard of OZ.  After a successful career in 25 films, her life began to diminish and ultimately, she got involved in drugs and died.  Back to clinging and reinventing, clinging is when the once famous celebrity holds on to a certain character or other factor in his life that made him once famous.  This clinging factor destroys the celebrity’s true identity such as Bob Denver from Gilligan’s island known as Gilligan.   Because he was a part of this film for such a long time and was a film that helped him become famous, people could identify him as Gilligan instead of his real name, Bob Denver.  Reinventing is when the ex-celebrity choses a different path of lifestyle such as a change in career like Shirley Temple did when her fame became extinct.  She became an important figure in politics.
Regardless if you are famous or experienced the loss of fame, the effects can either be wonderful or devastating based on how the celebrity is able to cope with his life.  The authors’ points and analysis of this article make sense to me because it contains valuable information that can help society identify the psychological effects that can impact celebrities.  Too many times, we visualize celebrities living in this beautiful rich perfect life, but in reality, it really is not.

SMALLEY, K. B., , & MCINTOSH, W. D. (2011). The Loss of Fame: Psychological Implications. The Journal of Popular Culture, 44(2), 385-397. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00838.x