Why would anyone want to be famous?

[Golden_Rhino]

I have always wondered why a lot of people would like to be rich and famous. I can understand the rich part, but not the famous part. I would hate to have my privacy invaded, having people pester me for autographs everywhere I went, and the paranoia and obsession that probably comes from wanting to stay famous.

I guess I could sum up my attitude as I would rather get rich by winning the lottery than I would by being famous.

I would like to know why some of you want to be famous, or theories on why many people want this 'distinction'.

[7ontheline]

I suspect people who truly want "fame" and not necessarily wealth or achievement are extremely narcissistic.

[Go_Blue88]

Ha there are some very obvious answers to this question(especially if you're a guy).

I'm not sure what unique perspective you're looking for

[beta1607]

Fame is power and a lot of people like power. It's like why would someone worth millions of dollars want to be Senator or President? For the power and ego boost.

[samjjones]

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Fame is power and a lot of people like power. It's like why would someone worth millions of dollars want to be Senator or President? For the power and ego boost.

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I'd imagine somebody like Warren Buffet, who is famous and powerful but not visibly recognizable to a large portion of the populice, has the best of both worlds.

[idrinkcoors]

Even the most self assured person wants to feel important, and being recognized in public makes one feel important. Granted, the person donating their time at an Aids clinic is more important than the weekend weather girl, but I'd imagine that the attention is addicting.

Remember the t.v. show "The Bachelor", a fews ago, when the bachelor was Andrew Firestone? (My wife made me watch it so don't start). His family owns a huge winery, he is an heir to the Firestone tire fortune, etc. Now a guy like that, (without fame), would have NO trouble getting chicks right and left, so his appearance on the tv show must be due to some attention-seeking desire.

[guids]

Fame is also the easiest way to obtain power, to obtain power you need to work hard, or have a great idea here and there, or be born into it. anyone can become famous nowadays.

[WhoIam]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Fame is power and a lot of people like power. It's like why would someone worth millions of dollars want to be Senator or President? For the power and ego boost.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd imagine somebody like Warren Buffet, who is famous and powerful but not visibly recognizable to a large portion of the populice, has the best of both worlds.

[/ QUOTE ]
I was thinking the same thing about someone like Francis Ford Coppola. He's famous, well respected, and has made famous movies but I doubt he gets recognized or approached half as much as a D-list celebrity.

[nolanfan34]

I wanted to be famous, I think that's part of why I went into television. After being an on-air reporter/anchor for a few years, I can only offer a very small slice of perspective.

Basically though, I did find it weird once I started to be recognized out in public. Having people stare at you, or ask weird questions, becomes sort of uncomfortable. And I only had a VERY small slice of what that's like. It certainly made me think about what someone like Matt Lauer goes through, where you can pretty much never go out in public without being bothered.

So while it's certainly an ego boost in the short term, yeah, I think in some ways it made me appreciate how difficult being "famous" would be and that the tradeoff probably isn't worth it for a lot of people.

[guids]

Never having to wait in line is a good enough reason for me.