Searching for Role Models in Hollywood

From body image to behavior to dreams for the future, children look towards the people they see every day to set standards for them to follow. Mostly the people kids see every day --and look to for guidance-- are their parents. But with TV, sports, music, etc., kids are also exposed to plenty of other role models on a day to day basis and not all of them are good ones.

There's a lot of controversy out there about what kind of a role famous people should play in society. Sure, not all of them are good role models. But does being in the public eye make it their responsibility to be a good role model? Or do parents thrust their own responsibilities onto sports stars or actors, and blame these "role models" when they don't see great results in their kids?

How far does public responsibility for famous people go? And when do the public's expectations become too much?

Celebrities Have a Responsibility

Many people --especially parents-- claim that to be in the public eye is to accept a position as a role model. Especially for those whose art (sports, pop music, etc.) appeals particularly to kids, it's expected that children will follow whatever example they set. And so it's up to these stars to set a good one. People who think this way maintain this position: famous people make a choice to be famous. They decide to be in the public eye. And one element of that decision is their influence on the people who are exposed to them.

If you think about it, this is true to an extent. If you look at the way Hollywood influences society and society's standards, you'll probably see some standards in place that wouldn't be there if the "elite" didn't follow them. A good example of this is body image. Because those in the public eye --especially women-- work so hard to stay unnaturally slim and perfect, they set up a standard that girls and women find impossible to keep to. Girls who grow up seeing this "perfection" as the only acceptable state of being end up with self esteem and body image issues that are nearly impossible to overcome.

You'll find the same things to be true with smoking, violence, drug use, and the like. When children see something depicted as ideal, cool, or even just acceptable by the people they look up to, it changes their perspective on that thing. When Michael Phelps is seen smoking marijuana or Rihanna is seen tolerating violence from her boyfriend, parents begin to worry that their kids are getting unhealthy ideas about what is right and what is wrong.

They're just People, too

However, there is another side to the "celebrities are role models," coin. Because celebrities are just people, too. Yes, it's true that they make a choice that leads them to be famous. But generally, they make that choice in order to follow an art or a dream that is at least partially separate from their fame. Most actors care about their art. Most musicians care about their music. Most athletes care about their sport. The career path they happened to follow takes them into the public eye. But that doesn't stop them from being human. Or from having a right to live their lives as they see fit.

It seems to me that the problem is more with society than it is with celebrities who make bad choices or act as bad examples. When the most-covered event you see in the news day after day is a violent altercation between a celebrity and his or her significant other or evidence of drug use, it's no surprise that people will fixate on this behavior. All over the world, fame is being taken to more and more extreme levels. More and more unhealthy levels. If people had something more substantial to look at --and if celebrities could live their lives more privately-- their choices wouldn't matter so much.

Of course, asking that is asking for the impossible. Celebrities will always be celebrities, and it looks like their role in our lives will, unfortunately, only continue to grow. All we can do as parents and members of society is try our hardest to learn from what lessons we're given-- no matter where they come from. It's a wonderful thing for a child to have somebody to look up to. But everybody makes mistakes, and seeing that somebody you admire is human and fallible teaches a child something, too. It's just a parent's job to help them understand what they're looking at.

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