I’ve always found it interesting how so many people want to be celebrities. A deeper look into many celebrities’ lives often reveals a depressingly superficial and hollow existence where their personal growth has been severely stunted. Their happiness is manufactured with drugs, the people they’re surrounded with lack depth, and any morals they had are quickly washed away. In spite of all this, most of us have heard someone enthusiastically proclaim: “I want to be famous!”

From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that people would want to be famous. It’s simply the best way to display that you have power. You get every status symbol you need to prove you’re dominant — cash, cars, women, etc. But all this comes at such a heavy price. Everyone affirms how great you are to the point where it’s almost impossible not to become a complete narcissist (if you weren’t already). You start to believe that you’re really important, simply because you exist.

Bottom line: There are stars out there who are genuinely good people, and have somehow crawled through the world of celebrity without compromising their souls. But it’s so exceedingly difficult to stay true to yourself while also doing everything you can to become famous.  Fame and integrity are not mutually exclusive, but they’re pretty damn close.

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This scene from ‘Extras‘ sums it up better than I can.  Jump to 0:48.