Have you met a superhuman on a street? At work? In your family? Most of us are common people – we all have our own talents but none of us can fly, none of us can walk on the water and none of us can pull out metal claws out from their hands and shred someone into pieces (thank goodness). But it also shows a massive conflict between reality and wishful thinking. A conflict we have created by worshipping those multitalented, always in their prime, never aging, superfit and superhealthy role models. And yet we know that everyone who has an adjective “mega”, “super”, “star”, “top” has a disclaimer – it comes at a terrible cost.
I am very sorry that Aviici died so young (28). But then I am also sorry for all other young and talented artists who are glorified, turned into mini gods or saints and leave this world far too early because they cannot handle their fame. I am sorry that these talented people get consumed by less talented people around them. What disturbs me even more is that “normal people” painstakingly refuse to accept famous people as ordinary people. They demand fairy-tales. They renounce that superstars get tired and that they also want to go to the toilet and pee.
We all contribute to this pop culture where it is not OK to be normal. Extraordinary powers is a must. Most of the films with record number of viewers contain heroes with supernormal abilities. As a top athlete, you are expected to break records, does not matter if you do it with the help of some prohibited substance or not. A new trend has emerged in the entertainment business – to spot top talents so the Youtube is filled with wonderchildren who can do amazing things. Everybody is clapping and cheering but have you wondered what becomes of those children afterwards? Are they happy when their dreams (or their parents’ dreams) come true? Will they be able to handle their lives under constant pressure of elevated attention?
The world we live in provides us tools to consume but it rarely provides us good mental habits and thinking patterns that help us make sense of the most important rule of life and living. Balance. Why do we always strive away from it? And why do we accept this constant brainwash from the media, social media, friends, colleagues, relatives – that it is OK to demand too much from others without giving back. I really have started to get sick of this consumerist world where every living thing has a price tag.
So how can we prevent more Aviicis from dying at an early age? We should not expect them to perform over 300 gigs per year and force them continue when they already have had life-threatening health conditions. We should not expect top athletes to test another still not illegal substance to boost their performance so they break. Masses are watching TV, eating junk food and yelling at their heroes to do more, spring faster, jump higher as if we really had the right to do it. It does not even occur to us that we do not. We should kill the myth of Santa Clause (yes, it is just another angle of the same problem – lying and deceiving and creating a superhero regardless of how noble the ends are). Managers of famous people should provide their clients therapists – psychologists and mental coaches who help them cope with a stardom which has more faults than virtues (except for money which obviously is not a solution and will not buy the client a panacea that will cure all their health problems). And please stop wooing over young kids who hardly know themselves why they stand in the spotlight with tearful fame-hungry parents on the back-stage or in front row. By the time these kids are grown-ups, their minds are so twisted that they have no joy of life left.
If there is anything we have too little in this world – it is balance. Mental, physical, social, societal, environmental. Pop culture is just one example where we show our endless lust to go into extremes. We can change this and make this world a much healthier place for you and me and our children. Are you ready to renounce your superheroes?
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