By Mickey Jhonny
Every time a new case comes to light, the comedians and late night talks show personalities jump on the bandwagon. The jibes and jokes about celebrities with eating disorders though stretch far beyond this circle of professional satirists. Whatever you think about this satirical open season on certain celebrities, it does seem clear that a lot of celebrities, notably female celebs, find their dieting choices subjected to the dictates of the very same driven personality that enables them to achieve such a celebrated place in their professional craft.
It has become something of a clich by now to point a wagging, accusing figure at the mass media, blaming the glitzy lifestyle along with the shallow and sexist mindless consumerism of the general public, who are said to buy into it all. Such glib diagnoses, however comfortingly politically correct they may be in the current environment, serve to obscure the fact that all aspects of the lives of successful movie stars, performers and other media personalities is colored by the hard driving personality tendencies that motivate their success.
There should be no surprise then to realize that if they turn that same focus and determination to weight loss, they can get a little obsessive. The great Christina Ricci displays her usual inimical style in ironically capturing just this dynamic in remarks to the Guardian newspaper in 2004, explaining how her initial experience with eating disorder began while watching trash television. "At the time that I was starting to diet and stuff, I saw this TV movie, and I thought, 'Ooh - anorexia. I could probably do that.'"
It has become something of a clich by now to point a wagging, accusing figure at the mass media, blaming the glitzy lifestyle along with the shallow and sexist mindless consumerism of the general public, who are said to buy into it all. Such glib diagnoses, however comfortingly politically correct they may be in the current environment, serve to obscure the fact that all aspects of the lives of successful movie stars, performers and other media personalities is colored by the hard driving personality tendencies that motivate their success.
There should be no surprise then to realize that if they turn that same focus and determination to weight loss, they can get a little obsessive. The great Christina Ricci displays her usual inimical style in ironically capturing just this dynamic in remarks to the Guardian newspaper in 2004, explaining how her initial experience with eating disorder began while watching trash television. "At the time that I was starting to diet and stuff, I saw this TV movie, and I thought, 'Ooh - anorexia. I could probably do that.'"
Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell, in a different way and tone, likewise helped dispel the PC myth machine when she acknowledged that the cause of eating disorders, even among celebrities, can be the simple challenges of coping with the roller coaster like ups and downs of everyday life. Celebrity status surely has unique pressures, but is their careers so much more stressful than many jobs and professions? Whatever the stresses of celebrity life, they do not dictate the coping strategy adopted.
A flash point for the politically correct game of media blame was the backlash against the innocent, ironic tweet of Lady Gaga, in 2012. It was typical of the victimizing strategy employed by the self-appointed morality squad. For never doubt or forget, young girls everywhere are at perpetual risk of the corrupting pressures of mass media messages. So it happened that poor Lady Gaga, who was already on the public record, urging her young fans to strive for healthier body images, couldn't innocently joke about the challenges of resisting her craving for a cheese burger without the busy bodies' morals police turning it into a federal offense. (And this is to entirely ignore the odd operative assumption that a cheese burger was somehow a better meal choice than a salad.)
If a celebrity already on record as alerting her young fans to the dangers of eating disorders cannot joke about her own freely chosen dietary deprivations what exactly is going on here? It seems that there is a large, invested concern to deny such celebrities freedom to take responsibility for their own choices. Somehow they have to be treated as victims, presumably so that any admirer of such celebrities can also be easily convinced she too is a victim. But who benefits from this?
The lesson from all this is certainly not to be misconstrued as implying that eating disorders are unique to celebrities. What is true, though, is that in the case of such celebrities, it is valid to regard those disorders as a product of the determination and strength that they already had to draw upon to achieve their professional success. This is not a denial of environmental pressures and stresses, in the end though, celebrity or otherwise, the bulimic or anorectic are making their choices.
And for those who think this assessment is unfair, who would dismiss it as a form of blaming the victim, perhaps you have the whole thing backwards. If the explanation for celebrities with eating disorders really was the mass media and the Hollywood glamour machine, there could be no other solution than to leave Hollywood or working in the media. Yet, there are plenty of success stories in which celebrities were victorious in combating their eating disorders, without needing to retire from their careers. They may have needed a break from the stress of work, but stress reduction is going to be an ingredient in any recovery plan. Rather, what this reveals is that just as the cause of the eating disorders lies in the celebrity, so too lay the solution. This shouldn't be offensive or threatening, it should be a note of enco
A flash point for the politically correct game of media blame was the backlash against the innocent, ironic tweet of Lady Gaga, in 2012. It was typical of the victimizing strategy employed by the self-appointed morality squad. For never doubt or forget, young girls everywhere are at perpetual risk of the corrupting pressures of mass media messages. So it happened that poor Lady Gaga, who was already on the public record, urging her young fans to strive for healthier body images, couldn't innocently joke about the challenges of resisting her craving for a cheese burger without the busy bodies' morals police turning it into a federal offense. (And this is to entirely ignore the odd operative assumption that a cheese burger was somehow a better meal choice than a salad.)
If a celebrity already on record as alerting her young fans to the dangers of eating disorders cannot joke about her own freely chosen dietary deprivations what exactly is going on here? It seems that there is a large, invested concern to deny such celebrities freedom to take responsibility for their own choices. Somehow they have to be treated as victims, presumably so that any admirer of such celebrities can also be easily convinced she too is a victim. But who benefits from this?
The lesson from all this is certainly not to be misconstrued as implying that eating disorders are unique to celebrities. What is true, though, is that in the case of such celebrities, it is valid to regard those disorders as a product of the determination and strength that they already had to draw upon to achieve their professional success. This is not a denial of environmental pressures and stresses, in the end though, celebrity or otherwise, the bulimic or anorectic are making their choices.
And for those who think this assessment is unfair, who would dismiss it as a form of blaming the victim, perhaps you have the whole thing backwards. If the explanation for celebrities with eating disorders really was the mass media and the Hollywood glamour machine, there could be no other solution than to leave Hollywood or working in the media. Yet, there are plenty of success stories in which celebrities were victorious in combating their eating disorders, without needing to retire from their careers. They may have needed a break from the stress of work, but stress reduction is going to be an ingredient in any recovery plan. Rather, what this reveals is that just as the cause of the eating disorders lies in the celebrity, so too lay the solution. This shouldn't be offensive or threatening, it should be a note of enco
If a celebrity already on record as alerting her young fans to the dangers of eating disorders cannot joke about her own freely chosen dietary deprivations what exactly is going on here? It seems that there is a large, invested concern to deny such celebrities freedom to take responsibility for their own choices. Somehow they have to be treated as victims, presumably so that any admirer of such celebrities can also be easily convinced she too is a victim. But who benefits from this?
The lesson from all this is certainly not to be misconstrued as implying that eating disorders are unique to celebrities. What is true, though, is that in the case of such celebrities, it is valid to regard those disorders as a product of the determination and strength that they already had to draw upon to achieve their professional success. This is not a denial of environmental pressures and stresses, in the end though, celebrity or otherwise, the bulimic or anorectic are making their choices.
And for those who think this assessment is unfair, who would dismiss it as a form of blaming the victim, perhaps you have the whole thing backwards. If the explanation for celebrities with eating disorders really was the mass media and the Hollywood glamour machine, there could be no other solution than to leave Hollywood or working in the media. Yet, there are plenty of success stories in which celebrities were victorious in combating their eating disorders, without needing to retire from their careers. They may have needed a break from the stress of work, but stress reduction is going to be an ingredient in any recovery plan. Rather, what this reveals is that just as the cause of the eating disorders lies in the celebrity, so too lay the solution. This shouldn't be offensive or threatening, it should be a note of encouragement. The news for all those who suffer eating disorders is one of hope: regardless of the difficulties in your own life, you have a secret weapon. That same strength and determination that holds you to the your current strict regime, the very engine of your eating disorder, is likewise there in you, the very same strength and determination, to draw from, when you decide you want to change your life.
If celebrity idolization is somehow mandatory, there are many different kinds of celebrities to idolize. You can choose. And better still, why not be the celebrity of your own life. It's your choice how to live your life; you've already proven the strength and determination of your personality. It's up to you how to use it. You don't need facile excuses about social pressures and mass media indoctrination. Take responsibility for your own life. Be the star of your own story.
The lesson from all this is certainly not to be misconstrued as implying that eating disorders are unique to celebrities. What is true, though, is that in the case of such celebrities, it is valid to regard those disorders as a product of the determination and strength that they already had to draw upon to achieve their professional success. This is not a denial of environmental pressures and stresses, in the end though, celebrity or otherwise, the bulimic or anorectic are making their choices.
And for those who think this assessment is unfair, who would dismiss it as a form of blaming the victim, perhaps you have the whole thing backwards. If the explanation for celebrities with eating disorders really was the mass media and the Hollywood glamour machine, there could be no other solution than to leave Hollywood or working in the media. Yet, there are plenty of success stories in which celebrities were victorious in combating their eating disorders, without needing to retire from their careers. They may have needed a break from the stress of work, but stress reduction is going to be an ingredient in any recovery plan. Rather, what this reveals is that just as the cause of the eating disorders lies in the celebrity, so too lay the solution. This shouldn't be offensive or threatening, it should be a note of encouragement. The news for all those who suffer eating disorders is one of hope: regardless of the difficulties in your own life, you have a secret weapon. That same strength and determination that holds you to the your current strict regime, the very engine of your eating disorder, is likewise there in you, the very same strength and determination, to draw from, when you decide you want to change your life.
If celebrity idolization is somehow mandatory, there are many different kinds of celebrities to idolize. You can choose. And better still, why not be the celebrity of your own life. It's your choice how to live your life; you've already proven the strength and determination of your personality. It's up to you how to use it. You don't need facile excuses about social pressures and mass media indoctrination. Take responsibility for your own life. Be the star of your own story.