Is Spotlight Awesome or Awful?
While bold planning is unquestionably essential, yet it’s important to reconsider whether we are leading to a lopsided pattern of success or towards constructive purposeful success. The preternatural death of celebrities despite having a so called successful life full of glamour, money, fame, etc. raises questions of lifestyle satisfaction.
Surveying these trends whether in Bollywood or Hollywood, one finds running through them two major currents of thoughts; the first is the belief that the profit motive or the desire for material rewards for individuals effort, which has throughout been characterized as man’s progress and second is the claim that socialism is the only equitable path to prosperity.
For the vast majority of people, the removal of material incentives and rewards will merely act either as a disincentive to work and produce or as an incentive to earn illegal rewards. We should face the fact, whether we like it or not, that most men will be driven to hard-work only by material rewards or fear, or a combination of both. A particular unfortunate consequence of going too far in this direction makes us overlook the overwhelming evidence that lead to psychological dysfunction.
The impulsive acts of suiciding, drugs, alcohol overdose, alcohol poisoning, drugs and addictive choices, overdose of sleeping pills are simply results of dysfunctional lifestyle. The dark side of the so called glamorous world is the abusive nature of activities that happen behind the scenes. A failed love affair, betrayals, fake friendships, stalkers under the cover of followers, unhealthy associations, trolling, traps to hurt the careers of the promising individuals, sexual harassments, insecurities of losing the extravagant lifestyle etc. The concept of casting couch is not unheard off. The “Me Too” movement triggered the downfall of many, however, they revived their careers after a span of time but the black mark on their character still remains.
The Long established culture of silence on relevant issues encourages limitless swamp of malice disguised as modern and practical dealings. Unhealthy competition leads to people resorting to misconducts and wrong doings. Trolling affects an individual’s sense of self. Distorted thinking and deep emotional challenges subtly drives people away from the core truth of life which is simple, deep and satisfying.
The paparazzi or gossip magazines sounds interesting read for the layman but hurt the sentiments of the celebrities who are talked about. So it’s time to consider whether this is an ethical practice or not? Not everyone is comfortable discussing their failures, bruises, breakups, divorces, health issues, married life, friendships, family life, etc with the public at large, with people sharing their opinions on things that are too personal for the individual, especially the ones that are spoken in derogatory ways. Personal privacy code of conduct is a lost forgotten concept. All these lead to self conscious behavioral patterns, fake representations that all is well, peer pressure, family disagreements, finally mental and emotional harassments.
Fake friendships, love affairs for ulterior motives, betrayals, unhealthy associations to gain popularity, rich lifestyle, fandom, money, etc. is common in this world of artificiality. Late night parties and unrestricted lifestyle looks appealing but costs heavily making people lose the treasure of a balanced lifestyle and at the end making one feel lonelier than before.
Press junket looks glamorous and fun to attend but it makes celebrities tired to the point of breaking down. Sleep deprivation caused due to grueling work schedule leads to frustrations and dissatisfaction and also leads to addictive choices.
A glamour world where people state they are living a healthy lifestyle by revealing they are fitness freak by showcasing their gym workouts. But something to reflect here is; are they truly living a balanced and healthy lifestyle or are simply focused on their physical self while ignoring their mental and emotional health and wellbeing. The pressure to maintain your physical beauty blinds you from the work needed to shine your inner beauty.
When individuals with no celebrity status feel heavy they choose to go out for a walk or watch movies with friends and family or eat in their favorite restaurants or go out for picnics etc to feel better immediately but celebrities can’t enjoy these ordinary pleasures which boost the mental and emotional state immediately avoiding sadness, stress and enjoying peace because celebrities will be followed by journalists and local public who sometimes choose obnoxious ways to get themselves photographed with celebs and also get their autographs, leaving no personal space for the celebs, except some celebrities who manage to cycle around the Mumbai city inspite of their associated fandom.
But the question considering here is whether snatching someone’s ordinary pleasures a moral conduct or do we need to reflect on the societal patterns that pressurizes people and takes away their personal liberty. Everything looks and feels good initially but in the long run and in the bigger picture it leads to unhealthy consequences.
The impression world is short lived, the expensive dresses and jeweler, makeup kits looks rich but is also a fake pleasure and true treasure lies in a balanced lifestyle. A lifestyle where no one is pushing you constantly, where you get sufficient family time and personal space to relish the beauty of being. Where you can practice self care beyond the physical self and get sufficient time to process your feelings and release your anxieties and refresh yourself. Huge expectations lead to perpetual disappointments. Though the large no. of auditions and rejections make one strong but in some cases it also leads to unhealthy practices with inferior choices to move up the ladder of so called success.
It’s time we need to save ourselves by stop chasing the empty things and work towards the real pleasure and satisfaction. A satisfied man is the richest man.
