I'm in favor of being rich and anonymous. I take your points about the perks of fame, but I'm routinely mistaken for Brad Pitt already. Now to achieve the rich part...
I was at a postgame party when the Cubs were in the playoffs in 2008 and Bill Murray was there with his kids and his brother Brian Doyle Murray. I’ve met quite a few pro athletes and actors and directors and I’ve never meet one nicer or less pretentious. He seemed truly happy to talk with me and all of the other “nobodies” who were there. And he did get hit on by the hot waitress.
Two actresses who star in "Yellowjackets" discussed their experiences playing an unattractive (well, unattractive for Hollywood) character on the show:
RICCI: I found that the second I put the wig and glasses on, people actually treated me differently. Did you find that?
HANRATTY: Oh, definitely.
RICCI: I was dismissed, teased more. It was really fascinating.
HANRATTY: I don’t think we’ve talked about this, but I was seeing a therapist while I was in Canada, and that was something that we discussed. I was definitely treated differently when I was in hair and makeup and wardrobe.
RICCI: It was fascinating. I wanted to take it all off and be like, “No, you will not talk to me like that anymore.”
This was a nice piece, but I think you’re doing a disservice to Murray’s position, at least when charitably interpreted. He’s not saying that fame has no benefits. He’s saying it has few extra benefits on top of being rich. He thinks that wealth covers *most* of the benefits of fame, so what would really be nice is wealth plus anonymity.
So for your three listed benefits of being famous (making a dent in the world, sex, and social connections)—could a rich person who is not recognized on the street have those too? If yes then Murray (or a charitable reconstruction of his position) was right after all.
Interesting essay, thank you for writing it! I've been thinking about fame, and especially low-level internet fame, a lot lately. And one part of it I'm very curious about is the role of ego/narcissism. It seems like people get a big ego boost out of the attention - but that fades quickly and the attention has some unexpected downsides. But maybe so many people wanting to be famous has something to do with the ego boost of feeling special. Just something I've though about, and I'm curious if that's something you've thought about too.
I think one of your links “I write about this in detail…” may be incorrect. Or it’s me. Happens. Great piece. Is there a reliable way to rate/rank fame? Like “The Famous Person Scale” or some such?
I'm in favor of being rich and anonymous. I take your points about the perks of fame, but I'm routinely mistaken for Brad Pitt already. Now to achieve the rich part...
I was at a postgame party when the Cubs were in the playoffs in 2008 and Bill Murray was there with his kids and his brother Brian Doyle Murray. I’ve met quite a few pro athletes and actors and directors and I’ve never meet one nicer or less pretentious. He seemed truly happy to talk with me and all of the other “nobodies” who were there. And he did get hit on by the hot waitress.
I deposit the "fame sucks" in the same bin that "I pay too much tax" bin. Go somewhere else if its so bad.
Reading this I thought of the Kevin Bacon story so I'm glad you included it.
Here's him telling it on the Graham Norton show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbp2EZRyHAk
Two actresses who star in "Yellowjackets" discussed their experiences playing an unattractive (well, unattractive for Hollywood) character on the show:
RICCI: I found that the second I put the wig and glasses on, people actually treated me differently. Did you find that?
HANRATTY: Oh, definitely.
RICCI: I was dismissed, teased more. It was really fascinating.
HANRATTY: I don’t think we’ve talked about this, but I was seeing a therapist while I was in Canada, and that was something that we discussed. I was definitely treated differently when I was in hair and makeup and wardrobe.
RICCI: It was fascinating. I wanted to take it all off and be like, “No, you will not talk to me like that anymore.”
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/samantha-hanratty-and-christina-ricci-on-surviving-in-the-wilderness
This was a nice piece, but I think you’re doing a disservice to Murray’s position, at least when charitably interpreted. He’s not saying that fame has no benefits. He’s saying it has few extra benefits on top of being rich. He thinks that wealth covers *most* of the benefits of fame, so what would really be nice is wealth plus anonymity.
So for your three listed benefits of being famous (making a dent in the world, sex, and social connections)—could a rich person who is not recognized on the street have those too? If yes then Murray (or a charitable reconstruction of his position) was right after all.
Interesting essay, thank you for writing it! I've been thinking about fame, and especially low-level internet fame, a lot lately. And one part of it I'm very curious about is the role of ego/narcissism. It seems like people get a big ego boost out of the attention - but that fades quickly and the attention has some unexpected downsides. But maybe so many people wanting to be famous has something to do with the ego boost of feeling special. Just something I've though about, and I'm curious if that's something you've thought about too.
I think one of your links “I write about this in detail…” may be incorrect. Or it’s me. Happens. Great piece. Is there a reliable way to rate/rank fame? Like “The Famous Person Scale” or some such?
Everything is a tradeoff