Have you ever looked to a celebrity or famous person and felt like you know them?

Ever have a hero worship thing happening?

A few months ago I told you about the person who sat next to me at a Book Talk hosted by Eugene and Dan Levy…https://wakinguponthewrongsideof50.com/2022/02/17/rabid/. Not long after I posted this, I was watching Guy’s Chance of a Lifetime on Food Network. (Hi- I’m LA and I’m addicted to food competition shows- even the below average ones)

The show was hosted by the uber popular Guy Fieri, and the concept was that he would bring in a group of people, and every week he would evaluate their performance on various tasks regarding cooking, marketing and owning a fast casual restaurant. There would be no weekly eliminations- but everyone would get evaluated and given scores, and the score would accumulate week to week. The winner of the competition would be the one with the highest score. The prize was a Chicken Guy franchise.

Big prize.

But to get that prize you had to be able to accept some harsh criticism if you made a blunder. Here’s my keys to success:

  1. Try new things
  2. It’s ok to make a mistake
  3. If you make a mistake you must own it
  4. If someone critiques you, you must listen with open ears
  5. Learn from your mistakes
  6. Move on

Now back to our scheduled programming:

So guy had a contestant on the show. She was quite good at a lot of things. She was also that teacher’s pet sort of personality- she liked raising her hand and getting the gold star.

One episode she had an epic fail.

Fails happen. People make mistakes or use poor judgement or just don’t think things out properly. This happens to everyone.

But her fail was really one of entitlement. She got mad because no one on Guy’s staff would “help” her. She was in the weeds on a challenge- but for some reason she thought she was entitled to help that the other contestants didn’t receive… She stormed and huffed…

She especially stormed and huffed when Guy called her on the entitlement…

She said something along the lines of – Doesn’t Guy know that he’s my idol? (apologies- I couldn’t get the direct quote because I accidentally deleted the episode before I got the quote and I refuse to pay for HULU premium)

Just because someone is your “hero”, does that mean they should give you special treatment? That they should excuse your flubs because you mean so much to them?

Is hero worship a thing that we should give a hard pass?

Has celebrity worship gone too far?

Do we forget that no matter how famous one is, they’re still human at the core?

Discuss:

36 thoughts on “Just Because They’re Famous…”

  1. We no longer have cable so it has been a while since I have seen Food Network. Maybe I need to give in and get the Discovery Plus bundle.
    I haven’t actually seen the episode, but it is never a good look when you act like a brat on those sort of shows.
    I would think that most of the contestants on the show would have to be Guy fans to buy into the show and the chance of getting a franchise—-there is a good and bad way to express that though.

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    1. Good point…you are probably already a fan if you try to get on his show…you’ve bought into his persona. But the brattiness…I don’t understand people who think like this. Not a good look…why would he award you the franchise?

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  4. Let’s veer off for a moment…do we worship the star, or do we worship the role(s) they play? Can you worship someone you don’t know personally versus being caught up in the false persona they display every time we see them on a screen? Worship traditionally refers to the adoration of a deity. So why are these “super fans” elevating seemingly normal people to the status of a god? Just more to ponder, as is the use of the word “hero”. Misplaced and overused I think.

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    1. This is why I love it when you come to my parties!! That’s the thing…why are we elevating these people to some other status? Why do we think they are “better” than others? Why do we think they count more?

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      2. I just refreshed my brain on the word idolatry- which seems to fit what super fans are doing. Why any of it happens- I will go back to the concept of something perhaps lacking in the personal life, or more importantly the psyche of the fan

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  5. Sorry, Hollywood, I tend to look down on most of your celebrities; they tend to be greedy and self-centered. As to that particular show, it is basically “reality” TV, right? Everybody is making money off of it. The words may not be memorized, but it is QUITE possible that this entitled person is told to act that way and that her epic fail was part of the plot. 🙃

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    1. I agree that much of reality tv is scripted. However, her actions were consistent with her behavior across the show. If she held up a faux persona for the entirety of the game she definitely should be working in Hollywood

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  7. I like Guy Fieri and we like to go to restaurants he’s visited. But that’s the extent of it. I do feel like I know him. He’s relatable and down to earth. I also like the cooking competition shows. We used to watch Top Chef together as a family when the kids were at home.

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  8. Guy does do a lot for charity and I applaud that. Hubby watches those shows but I don’t. The other one he watches is Beat Bobby Flay. I mean, rarely do the contestants beat Bobby.

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  9. People are people no matter how famous they are. And nobody should be given special treatment because they know a celebrity, or because they are famous. But, let’s face it, celebrities get special treatment all the time. That’s reality. My oldest son works in the sports world so he is constantly around mega sports heroes. Over the years I’d be invited to various functions, celebrity auctions, charity dinners, golf tournaments etc. and there were always celebs there. I left them alone. I never asked for even an autograph. Mainly because both my sons work with celebs and told me that famous people like their privacy. So I respected that. My oldest works in the sports world, my youngest in the film and tv. However, The ONLY celebrity I asked for a selfie with was Marlee Matlin. The season she was on Dancing with the stars, my son’s boss was the sports hero dancing on the show. So when it was time for their yearly foundation fund raising dinner party, Marlee was one of the celebs who joined the celebrity guests. I happened to have been sitting at her table and she was so friendly and reads lips really well. (Plus she brings along a deaf translator).Eventually I did tell her I was a big fan and that I taught with her former baby sitter. (True story). She was kind enough to take a selfie with me so I could bring it back and show her former sitter. She gave me a big hug and was an absolute doll. However, Normally I don’t bother famous people when they are just relaxing.

    Since My youngest son works daily with film and tv stars he doesn’t get fazed by celebs. He says that mostly these men and women are just regular people. My oldest son however,did admit when he first began his career, he was Star struck when he met Michael Jordan. But now after about two decades in the sports industry he just sees celebrities as every day people.
    I think we should give everyone their privacy and not expect anything from anyone. Nobody should act entitled or expect special treatment. BTW, Most celebrities are very nice.
    Here’s my oldest son being interviewed by the football hall of fame for working in sports.

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  11. I do like Guy, Larry and I watched his shows the other day he highlighted some diners in our area. Entitlement is something difficult to hide, I assume this contestant behaves in a similar fashion to all challenges in life. I do have a few people like Krista Tippett who I’ve listened to for years and feel as if we friends. Hope you’re doing well LA, xxoo, C

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  12. To answer your three questions: yes, yes and yes. I’ve worked in the film industry and treated everyone the same – friendly, professional and polite – my manner was no different in that industry than any other I’ve worked in. I never asked for an autograph or a selfie as I consider that intrusive. If anyone behaves in a high-handed manner or expects me to kowtow, I stick to professional and polite. My politeness can become quite icy I’ve been told 😉 I respect that (most) successful and/or famous individuals have earned their position, but that’s no reason to prostrate myself before them. I’ve actually experienced more troublesome behaviour from non-famous people than I have with actual stars.

    Back to the Guy Fieri show – that sounds like entitlement rather than celebrity worship to me.

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  14. Great questions. On the one hand, I want to say no, of course not, celebrities shouldn’t get a pass just because they’re famous. But then I think back about the time I hugged MY idol, Bruce Springsteen, and man…I was an emotional wreck. He probably could have tripped me as I was walking away and I’d have apologized for inconveniencing HIM!

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  15. I have two thoughts on this…one is that people have gotten way too entrenched in celebrity worship. But this has come easier with the advances in technology and social media. We see more. Hear more. Interact more. Second, the “quality” of today’s celebrities are vastly different than the ones from even two decades ago. I think we had way more positive role models compared to today. And now anyone can be a celebrity. They don’t even have to do something significant, have talent or impact the world in a positive way.

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