With all the calamities going on in the world today- oil spills, terrorism, immigration debates, war, etc.- it’s striking to me to note that the American public is just as, if not more, interested in the current troubles of Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, and the plethora of reality show “celebrities”.
A friend of mine recently reminded me that some people are examples of what to do right in life, and other people are… how do I put it… cautionary tales. This thought reminded me of the fairytales of old. They too were told as warnings about life. Don’t talk to strangers. Follow your godmother’s directions. Don’t be vain. Don’t use people. Don’t get stuck in a tower and have to grow your hair… okay, maybe not that one, but you get the point.
How does this relate to our celebrity culture? Let’s face it, the reason anybody really cares about celebrities at all is that we want to BE them, or at least have the power, wealth, and fame that they appear to have. Celebrities are the modern kings and queens of our culture. Any wonder that fairytales always had princes and princesses running around?Add to that the modern Western belief that anybody could become somebody, another ingredient to many fairytales, and you have the modern version of the classic tales.
“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” I Corinthians10:11-12
Celebrities walk a fine line between worship and contempt, most likely because the rest of us wish we had their priviledges, but not make their mistakes. People like Ms. Lohan and Mr. Gibson and Kate Goslin and those like them are easy to mock because we see thier place in life as better than ours, but our lifestyles as better than theirs. We think we would never act the way they act or squander the advantages they have. In essence we look down our noses at them because we think we are really superior to them.
Can we be so sure of that, though? Perhaps the reason I am not rich and famous like them is because I would be exactly like them if I were. Perhaps God, in His wisdom and grace, is telling me, through them, that I could be just like them, or worse.
Perhaps, but I don’t know. It’s an open debate until the day it happens, for you or me, which may be never. Until then, let us not be like the Pharisee who mocked the publican in his prayer. Which one was really closer to God? Instead, maybe we should be grateful for where we are in life and treat these juicy stories as they are, as modern fairytales warning us of our own human inclinations to turn our lives into a carwreck and be the cautionary tale for someone else.
