would you like to be famous essay

13 Advantages and Disadvantages of Being Famous

Many people dream of becoming famous – whether it’s through their work in film, music, or other areas.

However, being famous has its advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we’ll explore both sides of the coin to help you decide if pursuing fame is worth it.

• Redaction Team
• June 9, 2023
• Digital Marketing , Social Media

Advantages of Being Famous

Despite the downsides of fame, there are also some advantages that come with being a celebrity.

• Opportunities Arise : When you're famous, new opportunities arise that might not be available to you otherwise. Stardom can open doors for you in your career and personal life. For example, a celebrity may receive fancy gifts or be given special tables at restaurants.
• Financial Benefits : Famous people often have a lot of money at their disposal. This can come from endorsement deals, movie or music contracts, and other aspects of their career. They may also be able to charge higher rates for public appearances or endorse products.
• Platform to Make a Difference : Celebrities have a platform that can be used to make a difference in the world. They can use their fame to raise awareness for important causes or advocate for change.
• Exciting Career Opportunities : Being a celebrity opens doors to various career opportunities, such as acting roles, modeling contracts, music albums, book deals, and speaking engagements. Celebrities often have the chance to work on diverse and exciting projects.
• Access to Exclusive Events and Experiences : Celebrities frequently receive invitations to high-profile events, award shows, premieres, and parties. They may also gain exclusive access to luxury products, services, and experiences that are not readily available to the general public.
• Networking and Connections : The celebrity status often leads to connections with influential individuals from various industries. This can help them form valuable professional relationships and collaborations, expanding their opportunities for success.
• Travel and Exploration : Celebrities are given often have the chance to travel extensively for work or personal reasons. They may visit exotic locations, attend international events, and experience diverse cultures, all while having the means to enjoy these experiences.

Disadvantages of Being Famous

While there are certainly some perks to being famous, there are also some downsides and disadvantages of being a celebrity that shouldn’t be overlooked.

• Lack of Privacy : One of the biggest complaints that famous people have is the lack of privacy that comes with their fame. Celebrities have no privacy. Everywhere they go, they're followed by paparazzi and fans who want a glimpse of their favorite celebrity. They may also receive a lot of fan mail that can be overwhelming or difficult to keep up with.
• Constant Scrutiny : Because of their fame, celebrities are under constant scrutiny. Everything they do is analyzed and criticized by the public. This can be incredibly stressful and lead to negative mental health impacts over time.
• Difficulty Maintaining Relationships : It's not easy to maintain relationships when you're constantly on the go and in the public eye. Many celebrities struggle to keep their personal relationships strong due to the pressures of their career.
• Celebrities Get Special Treatment : Some people believe that famous people get special treatment wherever they go. They may be given freebies or be seated at special tables at restaurants. While this might seem like a perk, it can also lead to an inflated ego or unrealistic expectations of how the world works.
• Pressure to Maintain Image : Celebrities must always be conscious of their image in the public eye. This can lead to pressure to maintain a certain look or persona that might not be authentic to who they are as a person.
• Difficulty Living a "Normal" Life : Living a normal life becomes much more difficult when you're famous. Everything you do is scrutinized and criticized by the public, and you may not be able to do things that others take for granted.

Conclusion of Advantages and Disadvantages of Being Famous

As we’ve seen, being famous has both advantages and disadvantages. While it certainly opens doors and provides financial benefits, it also comes with a lack of privacy, constant scrutiny, and difficulty maintaining relationships.

Celebrities must strike a balance between living a “normal” life and maintaining their image in the public eye. Ultimately, whether or not pursuing fame is worth the downsides is up to the individual, similar to the famous entrepreneur examples .

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Student Opinion

Would You Like to Be Famous?

By Natalie Proulx

• Sept. 26, 2017

Would you like to be famous? Why or why not?

In “ You’ll Never Be Famous — And That’s O.K. ,” Emily Esfahani Smith writes:

Most young adults won’t achieve the idealistic goals they’ve set for themselves. They won’t become the next Mark Zuckerberg. They won’t have obituaries that run in newspapers like this one. But that doesn’t mean their lives will lack significance and worth. We all have a circle of people whose lives we can touch and improve — and we can find our meaning in that. A new and growing body of research within psychology about meaningfulness confirms the wisdom of Eliot’s novel — that meaning is found not in success and glamour but in the mundane. One research study showed that adolescents who did household chores felt a stronger sense of purpose. Why? The researchers believe it’s because they’re contributing to something bigger: their family. Another study found that cheering up a friend was an activity that created meaning in a young adult’s life. People who see their occupations as an opportunity to serve their immediate community find more meaning in their work, whether it’s an accountant helping his client or a factory worker supporting her family with a paycheck. As students head to school this year, they should consider this: You don’t have to change the world or find your one true purpose to lead a meaningful life. A good life is a life of goodness — and that’s something anyone can aspire to, no matter their dreams or circumstances.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

—What is the author’s argument about fame and worth? According to the article, what makes life meaningful? Do you agree?

—After reading the article, do you feel any differently about being famous? Why or why not?

—What are some things — big or small — that make you feel like your life is important?

—Think about your future. What does a meaningful life look like to you? (And if you were to become famous, what would you want it to be for?)

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Rich vs Famous

If you had to choose, would you rather be rich or famous?

You say you want diamonds and rings of gold. You say you want your story to remain untold. I say make your bloody mind up!

If you had to choose, which would you rather be?

• Rich, but unknown; or
• Famous, but actually poor.

The two words are bundled together so often we treat them as atomic, but they are not synonyms.

It seems like an easy choice to me.

But data would suggest many people prefer recognition: 1

In 2012, a study found that a desire for fame solely for the sake of being famous was the most popular future goal among a group of 10-12 year olds, overshadowing hopes for financial success, achievement, and a sense of community.

Those pre-teens are all adults now.

Maybe we mistakenly assume that “famous” is a stepping stone. Although, that underestimates how difficult it is to go from “poor and famous” to “rich and famous”. There are very few examples of people who have made that transition.

And in the meantime, how frustrating it must be to be recognised by everybody , but not have the income that we all assumes goes with a famous face?

On the other hand, going from “rich but unknown” to “rich and famous” would be much easier, if famous was the ultimate goal.

I like Bill Murray’s advice: 2

I always want to say to people who want to be rich and famous: “try being rich first.” See if that doesn’t cover most of it.

The downsides of being “famous but poor” are not often discussed. 3 Likewise, the benefits of being “rich but unknown” are massively under-reported. By definition, I suppose. But also because social media amplifies noise just as effectively as it does signal.

Maybe we need to be more specific when we describe these two options.

Let the judgments of others be the consequence of your deeds, not their purpose. — Leo Tolstoy

Recognition

How important is recognition?

A technique, often recommended in self help books, is to work backwards from the end. What inscription do we want on our tombstone? What do we want people to say about us in our eulogy? How do we want to be remembered?

Those are all hard questions that force us to go deeper, to look beyond our immediate skill set, job and status to our underlying values, relationships and the impact we have on others.

That’s definitely an improvement, but it’s not a complete answer, because it’s still relying on an external perspective. What do other people think of us?

Is it enough just to do something great if nobody else notices? What role does the audience play? How much does recognition matter?

Ultimately we can’t control what other people think or say or feel. So if we rely on that as our definition of success the outcomes are going to be more chaotic. The bigger the group of people whose opinions matter to us the harder it gets. It seems better to shrink that number as much as possible.

This becomes critical when we consider how we cope with failure. Most people are only really scared of other people knowing about their failures. As a result too many of us go to great lengths to pretend we’re constantly smashing it.

It’s very easy to say we shouldn’t worry at all about what others think, and at the same time more or less impossible to actually not worry about what others think. Of course we care. It is one of the most human things we do. 4

However, if we can’t reconcile our own assessment of ourselves, there isn’t enough external praise that can compensate for that.

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses. — Muhammad Ali

On the other hand…

The Pixar movie Coco has some interesting lessons about legacy.

This review from Letterboxd sums it up well: 5

A story about death, murder, loss, grief, ageing, dementia, living skeletons, and deadbeat dads. Y’know, a kids movie.

My theory for a long time has been that the opposite of “famous” is something like “blissfully anonymous”. But it’s a small nudge from anonymous to generally unrecognised, overlooked, and (in the Coco sense) forgotten. So that’s something to weigh up.

You can achieve much more if you don’t constantly stress about getting recognition. But, occasionally, it’s lovely.

It’s a joy to be hidden, but a disaster not to be found.

So what actually matters: the achievement or the credit?

It’s easy to assume that success comes from recognition. But knowing that something wouldn’t have happened without me is much more satisfying. I like to think of it as leaving the credit to be claimed by the people who think that’s the important thing.

In reality, achievement and recognition are self-reinforcing. And neither is entirely discretionary. But unpicking these elements does help us tease out our priorities.

Perhaps the optimum balance is something like:

Micro Famous, Macro Rich.

Of course, there are different ways to define a “rich” life too.

We usually assume it’s monetary. But it doesn’t have to be. If you have a different aspiration which doesn’t require money to unlock it , then run with that. The logic still works either way.

Not having to worry about money is great. It leaves much more time to worry about everything else. However, more money by itself doesn’t make anybody a better person, or solve any fundamental flaws.

I’ve been fortunate to know some people who are now extremely rich before they had much money. And in just about every case having more money just made them more of what they already were before (both positive traits and negative traits are amplified). No doubt the same is true of me.

I’ve also learned that removing cash as the constraint just highlights that the thing that’s universally scarce is time. Having a big net worth might mean you can do anything. But you still can’t do everything. There is still only space for one unbounded commitment.

The other problem is that we all quickly normalise our achievements, however big or small they are. Happiness has a half life. There is nothing so amazing that we can’t get used to it. We quickly refocus on the next level up. 6

We are all victims of our own definition of success.

If we can honestly define what’s really important to us, then not only are we more likely to actually get it, but also much more likely to be satisfied when we do. 7

There is always another level.

Don't be dyed purple. — Marcus Aurelius

Quiet, please

There is an alternative to chasing recognition:

Be so good they can’t ignore you. 8 Build a great business from a solid foundation. If you do that and still want to be famous afterwards, it will be much easier then.

Be honest about the lessons you’ve learned so far . Choose to work with people who can teach you and lift you up rather than people who expect you to already have all of the answers.

Be authentic. Don’t worry too much about fitting in - the goal is not to be the same as most people .

Be envious rather than jealous. 9 But be careful: Try not to compare how you feel on the inside with the misleading representation of how others look on the outside. Always remember many of them are faking it.

Be proud, if you do eventually achieve your goals, but stay humble even then. It’s very unlikely that you achieved anything entirely on your own, so try not to get too distracted by how much credit or recognition you personally get. On the other hand, be liberal with the credit and recognition that you give to everybody who helped along the way.

Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. That only unnecessarily increases the pressure you put on yourself. Remember, anybody who is really crushing it rarely needs to talk too much about that.

This approach probably won’t make you famous, but it’s a much healthier path.

Why Do You Want To Be Famous? by Scott Barry Kaufman, Scientific American , 4th September 2013.  ↩︎

The World According To Bill Murray by Jacob Stolworthy, Esquire , 21st September 2015.  ↩︎

Reasons Not To Become Famous by Tim Ferriss, 2nd February 2020.

Keep in mind, in this post he is describing the downsides of fame in the context of also being wealthy. Imagine having to deal with all those issues without the resources he had. It’s a much more difficult equation.  ↩︎

Dr Emily Anhalt , Twitter , 4th December 2021:

Lies we tell ourselves: I shouldn’t care what people think of me. Of course you care. We all do. It’s the most human thing there is. It’s actually important to consider others’ perspectives of us. Just don’t forget those perspectives are heavily influenced by their own [shit].

Coco Reviews , Letterboxd .  ↩︎

The Half-life of Happiness , by Paul J Gertler, Raimundo Undurraga & Sebastian Galiani, Vox , 21st July 2015.  ↩︎

See: Happiness Lab by Dr Laurie Santos  ↩︎

In this interview with Charlie Rose , Steve Martin explains that many people who ask him for advice are looking for a shortcut, or silver bullet :

Nobody ever takes note of it because it’s not the answer they want to hear. What they want to hear is “here’s how you get an agent” or “here’s how to write a script”. But I always say “Be so good they can’t ignore you”. If somebody is thinking “How can I be really good” people are going to come to you. It’s much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.

See also: So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love , by Cal Newport.  ↩︎

As Homer Simpson explains to Marge and Lisa:

Jealousy is when you’re worried someone will take what you have. Envy is wanting what someone else has.

Homer Simpson on Jealousy and Envy , YouTube .  ↩︎

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Does being famous have more advantages or more disadavantages?

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• What Do You Want To Be Famous For?

I want to be famous for being inspiring, inventive, and radiating positive energy! I’d like to be famous for my common sense Customer CARE principles and my PASSION for bringing positivity into workplaces.

But mostly I want to be famous for motivating people – like you – to take away one or two or maybe three ideas every month or so, put them into practice and experience the positive change – and THEN feel motivated to teach it to others.

There’s only one problem – research shows that only 10% of an “audience” will actually put something into practice. Are you in that group? I’ll bet you ARE!

Here’s a short Positivity Practice for you today:

Ask Positive Questions

If you want to get great answers – you’ve got to ask great questions. If you want to get powerful answers – you’ve got to ask powerful questions.

The brain runs on questions – from the minute you get up in the morning.

Think about this morning. As you first became aware, I’ll bet you used questions to organize your thinking. What time is it? Uh- is it 6 o’clock already? When’s my first meeting? What will I wear? Is it snowing again? What’s for breakfast?

All day long our brains ask questions. Often those questions are disempowering and negative. Who screwed up here?Why am I so clumsy? Who’s to blame?

What if we thought about the kinds of questions that will improve our experience and those of our customers? How can I create more value here? How can I make it easier? How can I make this more pleasant? What can I learn from this? How can we be remarkable? How can we make our customers happy? How can we make each other happy?

What do YOU want to be famous for?

It’s a great question. I use it with my clients all the time. It helps them refine their thinking about their customer experience. What do you want to be known for?

You might be thinking that you don’t want to be famous at all but I’m not talking about the bright lights kind of fame – I’m talking about the people you touch every day. All of us are famous for something (even if it’s just hogging the remote or making a great cheesecake.) What do YOU want to be known for?

How do you want the world to experience you?

As being an influence for goodness, compassion, helpfulness, team spirit? As being attentive, a good listener, a helpful friend?

What do you want to contribute?

These are amazing questions to think about in the AM – aren’t they?

I wonder what would happen if we all looked in the mirror in the morning and instead of inspecting our face for new wrinkles or new zits, we thought about how we show up and are present in the world, how well we pay attention and how much we think about the effect we have on others.

That’s important – because emotions are contagious and customers are emotional people!

Howard Schultz, the genius founder and CEO, Starbucks

“For the most part, customers are irrational beings, making many decisions based on feelings and emotions, some which they don’t even know they have. Nothing we do triggers these emotions more than the experience our customers have with us every day. When everyone here finally realizes and embraces their role in this, we will have something special, something lasting.”

Every business I know could say the same thing.

Customer have two sets of needs – business needs and emotional needs – there are companies that can take care of their business needs – but not that many companies that take care of their emotional needs at the same time. How are you doing?

What do you want to be famous for?

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