Apologies! I am once again kicking off this column with statistics: In 2006, the results of a survey making the news showed that about 30 per cent of young schoolchildren wanted to become "famous" when they grew up. How they became so appears to be irrelevant. A "celebrity" was what they wanted to be when they grew up, and how they became so did not matter. No big deal there.
As a child, I thought exactly the same way - I was sure that one day I'd be attending glamorous dos in Hollywood, marrying a beautiful actress, living a fabulous life in some wonderful villa - one of many that I would have scattered all around the world. At work was the fervent imagination of a child with an interest in film and fashion magazines, who had probably read too much Jackie Collins and Harold Robbins.
Today, many years later, having been around the block a few times, I look at the lives of those who earlier on in my life would have appeared so privileged and think to myself, "Thanks, but no thanks". OK, so I might have to spend a day out and about without not one person recognising me, walking over mere concrete and not red carpet, but you know what, I like that! Rather spend my life unnoticed than have a so-called "friend" record a 20-minute video of me completely off my trolley smoking crack, to then sell it to The Sun - as happened to Amy Winehouse this week.
I am writing this a few hours after it was announced that actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment at the age of 28 - which is really sad news. Here was a young man in his prime, with a brilliant career ahead of him - all seemed to be going swimmingly. And then ...
As I always do when talking about this stuff, I want to make it clear that I am in no position to pass judgement on or take a moral stance about anything that Ledger, or Winehouse, or indeed any other person - famous or otherwise - smokes, swallows, or shoves up their noses - my days round that block have taught me that lesson. But one cannot help but look at the lives of some of the rich and famous who many dream of emulating and thinking, "for Chrissakes, get a grip! You're too talented to be throwing it all away anyway."
Of course, none of this is new. The 20th century is littered with Live Fast Die Young casualties who came and went in a short time, and burnt the candle at both ends during their stay here. It is for their deaths that they have now become famous, and not for what they did when they were alive.
While one cannot put the blame entirely on the fact that these people have achieved a certain level of popularity, it is no secret that fame, and the lifestyle that comes with it, is by no means as it is seen through the eyes of a child.
So if you ever hear your kids saying they want to be famous, you should let them know that like many other things in life, it's a double-edged sword, and that maybe being normal is not such a bad thing after all.
As a child, I thought exactly the same way - I was sure that one day I'd be attending glamorous dos in Hollywood, marrying a beautiful actress, living a fabulous life in some wonderful villa - one of many that I would have scattered all around the world. At work was the fervent imagination of a child with an interest in film and fashion magazines, who had probably read too much Jackie Collins and Harold Robbins.
Today, many years later, having been around the block a few times, I look at the lives of those who earlier on in my life would have appeared so privileged and think to myself, "Thanks, but no thanks". OK, so I might have to spend a day out and about without not one person recognising me, walking over mere concrete and not red carpet, but you know what, I like that! Rather spend my life unnoticed than have a so-called "friend" record a 20-minute video of me completely off my trolley smoking crack, to then sell it to The Sun - as happened to Amy Winehouse this week.
I am writing this a few hours after it was announced that actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment at the age of 28 - which is really sad news. Here was a young man in his prime, with a brilliant career ahead of him - all seemed to be going swimmingly. And then ...
As I always do when talking about this stuff, I want to make it clear that I am in no position to pass judgement on or take a moral stance about anything that Ledger, or Winehouse, or indeed any other person - famous or otherwise - smokes, swallows, or shoves up their noses - my days round that block have taught me that lesson. But one cannot help but look at the lives of some of the rich and famous who many dream of emulating and thinking, "for Chrissakes, get a grip! You're too talented to be throwing it all away anyway."
Of course, none of this is new. The 20th century is littered with Live Fast Die Young casualties who came and went in a short time, and burnt the candle at both ends during their stay here. It is for their deaths that they have now become famous, and not for what they did when they were alive.
While one cannot put the blame entirely on the fact that these people have achieved a certain level of popularity, it is no secret that fame, and the lifestyle that comes with it, is by no means as it is seen through the eyes of a child.
So if you ever hear your kids saying they want to be famous, you should let them know that like many other things in life, it's a double-edged sword, and that maybe being normal is not such a bad thing after all.