Blinded by the Light

Fragments of this post have been brewing in my mind for quite some time now. However two very recent events caused these ideas to become something coherent.

The first of these event's was Charlotte's most recent post on this blog. Some of you were confused by it, some of you laughed at it, and some of you were just plain annoyed by it. But the truth is that it did have some incite that will be a key part of this post.

The second event was my recent attendance of a Taylor Swift concert. Many things on Stardoll parallel the real world, and the desire to be known, and to be seen, is one of them.

I think sometimes people are just blinded by the light.

We've all seen it before. We visit a popular person's page, and their guest book is filled with people sucking up to them. Like Charlotte said in her post: "I feel like people have trophy friends. Do you know what I mean? Like really, do you understand?" The answers is yes, I understand. Charlotte continues by saying "I remember how people were like 'OMG I wanna be friends with the famous people so I can be famouzzzz too'. I just feel like people on stardoll have trophy friends and when they become a trophy themselves they get people that want THEM as trophy friends."  

These words hold true for many people. And if not on Stardoll, then in the real world. I think most people have at least one celebrity that they are just obsessed with. Last Friday night (song begins playing in head...) I saw Taylor swift in concert along with 14,000 screaming fans. 

One thing Taylor said that stuck with me was that she was fascinated that so many people chose to spend their Friday night with her. Why would people chose to do this. Why did I chose to do this? Why do people pay an arm and a leg to do this? The answer is certainly not to listen to the music. With all the people screaming and singing along, you would certainly be able to hear the music better in the comfort of your home. After giving these questions a lot of thought I have come to the conclusion that people go to see and be seen. Some times you can feel like you know a celebrity so well, and you feel like you're friends. You listen to their music and you feel you understand them, and they, somehow understand you. But this is crazy, right? You've never meet them and they've never meet you.

But this is true on Stardoll too. I've never meet any of my Stardoll friends. How do I know they're not some creepy old man? I don't. I only know what they tell me. This connects so well to celebrities. How many lies are told in the media, how many do you believe? People say seeing is believing, but with photo shop it's impossible to say that. So people go to concerts to see in the purest way possible. 

But it's not all about seeing. People also want to be seen. They want this person to know that they mean something to them. They want the closeness they feel for this person to become concrete in proximity. And, maybe, just maybe, they want this person to see them. To become and millisecond of their lives.  Is this the same reason people try to find "trophy" friends? Do people think fame and popularity will rub off on them? I hope not, because it really won't. In this virtual world the only way to become known it to be talented. And the only way to be talented is to never give up. 

Don't get blinded by the glits and glam. People worked hard to get where they are now. And the only thing harder than achieving a goal, it keeping that dream alive. Making sure the pressures of the limelight don't change you for the worst. Making sure you're always perfect. Making sure you never disappoint. The higher you climb, the harder you fall. Is it all worth it?