Are celebrities people? Obviously, right? But are they treated as such?

Celebrities are who they are, most times because of their ability to produce something surreal: an artist creating the perfect album, a painter showcasing his majestic piece of art, a soccer player going past four players and then hitting the top right corner. The list can go on and on. The world is filled with talented people who use their talents to serve us in various ways, enriching our imagination with art, beauty, sports, and many more, and with that, they are blessed with money and fame.

But the question is, does their fame come at the cost of their humanity?

The saying always goes, "Souls were sold to the devil for fame,"  but I see it as humanity being sold in exchange for fame.

In our eyes, they aren't people anymore; they are a sort of god, a kind of demi-god. No one goes to a concert of a random to scream their lungs out and get 3 hours of sleep before work on Monday. No, they spend their money and time on well-known artists and sports players, who they know who give them their money's worth, and sometimes they go just because the celebrity is a celebrity.

But what negatives manifest from this?

Because of their god-like, or demigod-like, status, we tend to elevate them to heights above mistakes, mediocrity, and sin.

Always being compared to the heights they have created and also to the heights created by others around them. We demand better music and films and more goals on the field, even if it's not humanly possible. They can't sleep, rest, or even be depressed.

All we know is all want

We become the narcissistic bosses who just wants results and doesn't care if you hadn't had sleep or just broke an arm. All we know is all we want.

Sometimes it goes deeper than their work; it falls into their everyday life and lifestyle choices; their style, looks, relationships and many other things which, now have to be aligned to the idealized versions of heaven they've created in my head.

They are treated in ways we wouldn't want to be treated.

In that world where you were a celebrity, you don't eat what you want because you might add extra weight; you don't date who you love because they aren't tall enough; you don't create what you love, because the people demand you don't change course, not even slightly.

This is the life of the everyday celebrity, but we don't seem to be aware of that. We just see what they give us, and we believe that's who they are.

A relationship where one who isn't divine is placed on the seat of divinity is, um, quite toxic, and that is what we have with celebrities. They become subject to our desire, like a hamster running on a wheel to give us electricity. And this ignorance of their humanity makes us lose sight of the art of life.

And what is this art of life?

It is that everyone lives in ways true to their nature, be it individually, as a family, as a community, or as an artist. All just being beautiful and living fully their roles, which is just to live.

Celebrities are no better than us in the art of life; they might be better at specific areas, but we are all living this art of lives, needing one another, none being perfect, all imperfect.

So rather than ignore their humanity, let's recognize it as part of what makes life, life.