Oops! … I did it again! Oops! … I picked up another celebrity magazine and read about Britney Spears. If you haven’t noticed, Britney Spears is everywhere recently-and people are interested in reading about her. Before seeing her during her difficult times, we all remember the Spears who was upbeat and controlled. She was part of the charming Mickey Mouse Club, where she learned the show biz ropes with other budding celebrities, including Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.

Spears released three albums that were mega hits. She had a family and good friends who supported her. At one point she even dated Justin Timberlake! The media loved her and covered her in a positive light. Sometimes, it came to the point that people were jealous of Spears. How could she have it all?

Recently, though, it all came crashing down. Spears was divorced from Kevin Federline. During that time, she was all over the covers of magazines. Then there was the custody battle for her two sons. She was later covered by the magazines for those weird instances-you know-when she shaved her hair and started attacking cars with umbrellas.

People were intrigued: What happened to the Spears they were jealous of? And people kept reading. Just recently, they were reading about her “what on Earth were you thinking?” performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Now the articles are about how she lost custody of her sons to her ex-husband. It has been a rollercoaster ride, but the public isn’t satisfied. We want to read more.

Should the public be interested in Spears? What she goes though is her personal struggle. Should it be on the covers of all magazines? What is our fascination with public figures and their downfalls? This fascination is not only with singers, but with all public figures.

Remember Bill Clinton during his presidency? Oh, and Monica Lewinsky-I think that is enough said. Clinton had personal problems with infidelity, and then his personal life was blown out of proportion. Well, he did lie; but that is not the point. The public was fascinated with Clinton’s problems. The news was omnipresent. Everyone was talking about, discussing and reading about the scandal. Former President Clinton was going to be considered one of the best presidents in the history of the United States, but then his entire reputation became tainted because of his infidelity. It was his personal life and personal business, so why were we so interested in his downfall?

Public leaders become so famous because of who they are. Important leaders today were not born important; they weren’t born famous. Each needed to build character and then, based on that character or talent, the public listened and allowed them to become famous.

Basically, a good leader becomes famous because of personal merit. Spears knows how to perform. Clinton is adept at politics and speaking to large audiences. Most public figures seem perfect. Before their downfalls, Spears and Clinton seemed perfect to a normal person. It is important to remember that each of them started as a normal person.

That is where the reason for the fascination with downfall can be understood. Spears, Clinton and many like them were all normal people before they became famous. They each set a paradigm of perfection that normal people could reach-a person like you can become president, a famous singer or anything that he or she wants. This idea that we are capable of whatever we want puts an enormous responsibility on our part-we have the abilities to reach the heights that Clinton, Spears and others have reached.

When public figures reveal their troubles, it shatters the paradigm of perfection. In this way, it seems to shatter the responsibility and burden of the regular person. It seems that we no longer need to strive for perfection. The public continues to read, the magazines continue to print and the vicious cycle continues.

Ultimately, the point is that we should not feel relieved by the downfall of the famous. We each have our own responsibility to make a difference that should not be influenced by them. We each have the choice to strive for perfection in all facets of life.
Oops! . I didn’t do it again-I don’t pick up those magazines anymore. I know my responsibilities. Do you?

Samiksha Tarun is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.