Suicide has been an ongoing problem within the entertainment business globally for decades. Throughout the years, the number of suicides has continued to increase, especially among celebrities. Studies have been conducted throughout the last few decades, showing that a majority of the world’s top celebrities die young. We often look at the lives of these celebrities and believe that they are happy and living the perfect life that most, merely dream of. However, just as the media divulges of celebrity success and achievement, they do so equivalently when it comes to their failures, downfalls, and even their death (Denner, 2009). Therefore, this paper demonstrates in detail on fame and fortune as a huge contributor towards suicide among the celebrities life. It uses examples to enumerate to the reader what factors contribute to the outcome of suicides among celebrities.
A prominent example of this distinct celebrity figure that died due to the accidental drowning that was caused by cocaine use and heart disease is Whitney Houston. Several aspects of her life began to fail because of her overlooked issues within her love life, home life and career. Generally, it began at a very young age where the celebrity was placed on a high pedestal as if they are not like the typical human beings whom commonly make mistakes and needs solace like everyone else (Gould, 2001). Sadly, it is these stars that are distinctly more prone to destructive behaviour, including alcoholism, accidents, drug-use and suicide.
Celebrity roles hold great responsibility as it is very time consuming, mentally/physically straining, and quite tedious. More so, it is these major responsibilities expected from these figures that ultimately diminish their time to address personal issues and prospects, as they are too busy trying to appeal to the public interest. It is not in the nature of the media or society to consider celebrities emotions. Unfortunately, while the entertainment industries drool over the crown of glorified eminence, ultimately it is the prominent contribution of what leads to the measures of their individual downfall (Stack, 1991). This entails that the stress of maintaining a public life can contribute to suicide among celebrities, as seen with the case of Whitney Houston.
According to Gould (2001), “the media is to blame for suicidal incidences” (p. 200). Just as the media divulges the successes and achievements of the celebrities, they equally report the failures, downfalls, and deaths of celebrities. It is the last part that causes too much anxiety that causes celebrities to go into depression. The outcome of depression in most cases among celebrities is that they end up committing suicide after failing to overcome failures and challenges. The constant glare of the media regarding the challenges that celebrities are going through makes it even more difficult for celebrities to deal conclusively with problems they are experiencing (Stack, 2001, p. 187). As such, a wide coverage of the mistakes, and criticism celebrities are experiencing cause them to plunge deep into depression and eventually causes them to attempt or commit suicide.
According to Denner (2009), “the latter rejected modern lifestyles of the celebrities” (p. 614); this is where the author was discussing the life of Leo Tolstoy. When people achieve wealth and fame, they discover that they no longer have the luxury to continue dreaming because they simply get what they want. It is important to note that dreams are what give people hope and the will to live and continue working towards realizing those dreams (Gould, 2001). Even though some dreams are fruitless, they offer hope because one constantly believes that there is something coming their way that will steer their fortunes and bring them closer to realizing their dreams.
Having worked so hard to achieve wealth and fame, and once a person achieves such luxury; they realize that they have reached their potential. Another outcome is that celebrities become conscious of the fact that fame and wealth does not really make them happy as they earlier thought. As such, they are bound to conclude that achieving the success that they have always dreamt of without achieving satisfaction and happiness, nothing in this world will ever make them happy. Basically, the implication here is that celebrity life is an empty achievement because even after achieving it, it leads to depression which later contributes to the huge suicides being witnessed among famous people (Harris, 2008). Such conclusion causes celebrities to respond by seeking oblivion by abusing illegal drugs. When celebrities fail to achieve happiness despite their wealth, they begin to seek happiness in other ways like drugs and they end up committing suicide.
There are many stories about celebrities struggling with drug addiction, especially those who achieved their success while they were young, because they have not been able to manage and to get past their decisive moment. Robin Williams is believed to have committed suicide and it was factored by asphyxia and hanging. Williams is believed to have battled severe depression for years and had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Furthermore, the increase in paranoia might have contributed to his death. Despite his fame and fortune from movies and comedies, it is clear that famous people undergo depressions and as a result, some opt to commit suicide as a way of ending their misery. Therefore, the indication here is that the approach by the media to focus on the personal life of celebrities is contributing to the suicide outcomes, especially in the current modern world. This can be related to the fact that Robinson was suffering, but in a way, he did not let his fans to be aware of his misery, and hence opted to kill himself (Gould, 2001).
Celebrities who may be suffering might resign all hope of achieving happiness arguing that if larger-than-life celebrities like Robin Williams and Whitney Houston could not hack it given all their fame, fortune, and adoration, they surely will never achieve true happiness. According to Harris (2008), “the deaths of celebrities are a reminder that despite person’s status in the society; they undergo psychological struggles and misfortunes” p. 616). Research continues to reveal that youths are more at risk of being influenced to a point of being suicidal following the mass media reports and depictions of a specific suicide. Gould (2001) presents that in some cases of media reports, especially the televised reports, suicide have more influence than fiction and often lead to an increase in the rate of suicide and suicide attempts.
Most celebrities who experience problems in their personal life don’t seek medical assistance. The reason as to why celebrities opt from seeking medical assistance is because they prefer keeping their life private, and as a result they end up hurting their being. It is true because about 75% of celebrities who experience depression do not seek treatment for it (Harris, 2008). Furthermore, most depressed celebrities avoid seeing doctors because they believe that what they are experiencing has nothing to do with a doctor. They believe that they are only experiencing bad days. Unfortunately before they know it, they plunge deeper and deeper into depression to a point of no return.
Another prominent celebrity that committed suicide is Don Cornelius, who is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot. He contributed to a lasting legacy impact on diversifying pop culture and offering a rise to hugely influential group of black performers. Despite all his efforts, he had issues like domestic violence, being arrested and fined at the same time. In a way, it can be said that in spite of having all that fame and fortune, he still had his problems, and the outcome of his suffering led to his choice of committing suicide. Therefore, without seeking help, it is very difficult for anyone to try to offer unsolicited help before it is too late. Believing that what they are experiencing is only temporary, many celebrities increase the intake of alcohol and other drugs, but this only ends up making the situation worse. Eventually, celebrities feel trapped between anxieties, agitation and insomnia, which makes them develop disproportionate anger (Denner, 2009). These dramatic changes in the moods from depression to being okay and vice versa leave celebrities excessively frustrated and in a bid to rescue themselves they end up killing themselves.
The many cautionary tales regarding suicide by celebrities ultimately reveal that extrinsic motivations like fame and fortune do not really lead to real happiness. Many young people do not only want to live the American dream, but want fame as well. However, fame and fortune comes with the burden of being in the spotlight. Thus, once celebrities have achieved fame and fortune, they are unable to handle too much media scrutiny, and they become depressed and begin to seek oblivion from substance abuse and other dangerous activities (Stack, 1991). When that fails, the only other option is to commit suicide. Taking the foregoing into consideration, it is true that fame and fortune increases chances of suicide. Thus, it is clear that fame and fortune are contributors to celebrities’ suicide in the modern world as seen with the example of Whitney Houston, Robin Williams and Don Cornelius.
References
Denner, M., (2009). “Be not afraid of greatness…”Leo Tolstoy and Celebrity,” Journal of
Popular Culture 44(4), 614-45.
Gould, M.S., (2001). Suicide and the media. In H. Hendin, & J.J. Mann (Eds.), The clinical
science of suicide prevention. New York: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, pp. 200-24.
Harris, D., (2008). Celebrity Deaths. Antioch Review 66(4), p. 616.
Stack, S., (1991). Social correlates of suicide by age: Media impacts. In A. Leenaars (Ed.),
Lifespan perspectives of suicide: Timelines in the suicide process. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 187-213.
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