We're in a restaurant. We sit down to eat and as we look over in a corner of the establishment we see Phil Rizzuto and his wife sitting there eating a leisurely lunch. We get all excited, run over to Mr. Rizzuto and ask him if he would give us his autograph. He reluctantly takes out a pen and signs our napkin or whatever it is we brought over to him. We then go back to our seat, all smiles and place that napkin in our special bag. Later, when we get home, we frame it and hang it on the wall. It stays there until we ourselves are long gone from this Earth. Good heavens. Why the fuss? Why are we so taken by these celebrities? Why is it that whenever we see one our jaw drops to the floor and it's all we can do to keep from drooling all over ourselves? There are many theories as to why we go crazy over seeing a famous person. We'll explore a couple here, though by no means is this list exhaustive. One of the main reasons psychologists believe that we are so taken by celebrities is because of the dullness of our own lives. We get up, go to work, do our jobs, come home, maybe watch a little TV and then go to bed. Everyday is the same old thing, except maybe on weekends when we might go shopping or to a movie. But for most of us, we really don't have very exciting lives. Getting to meet somebody who is a TV or movie star is probably the most exciting thing that is ever going to happen to us. So when it does, we jump all over it because we may never get another moment like it again. We feel, in a sense, that if we are able to connect, even if for just a moment, with a celebrity, that we are close to being a celebrity ourselves. We can tell people, "Hey, I shook hands with...." . Fill in the blank with your dream celebrity. Unfortunately, for some of us, the reasons and motives aren't quite as pure. For many of us, getting a celebrity's autograph is a ticket to riches. Just take a look on E-Bay and you'll see all the autographed records, baseballs, comics and what-have-you being auctioned off for prices that would make your hair stand on end. There are people who actually make quite a nice living from selling autographed memorabilia. The lengths that these people will go to in order to get this stuff would make Al Capone look like a boy scout. And the worst part about it is they have no shame about it whatsoever. They brazenly advertise all over the Internet, "Autographed 715th home run baseball by Barry Bonds". Of course, this is one thing that is never going to happen because Bonds refuses to autograph any of the home run balls that he hits as he goes after Ruth for second place on the all time home run list. Maybe he's onto something. Whatever the reason we hunger for the touch of our favorite singer or sports start, it is not likely that this craze is going to disappear any time soon. |
