Tuesdays with Media: The Public Life of Celebrities

Before I begin, watch this clip from an interview with Robert Downey, Jr.:

That's a shortened clip from the full interview that Downey did to promote Avengers: Age of Ultron.  The interviewer, having asked all the questions he had about the film, asked the actor if he would mind answering some personal questions.  Downey lookeds a little weary, probably because he'd been giving interviews for hours and just wanted to be done already, but he smiled and agreed to the more personal stuff.  The interviewer brought up Downey's dark past (he struggled with addiction) and you see Downey's whole countenance change: he starts breathing heavily and his eyes are filled with a mixture of pain and anger.  Despite the interviewer being a completely insensitive jerk, Downey simply got up and ends the interview, not once saying a mean word.

I bring this up because celebrities have troubles that the rest of us don't face.  Everyone has things in their past that they aren't proud of, but we don't have people bringing them up to us well after we've overcome those troubles.  I'm not proud of the fact that it took me eight years to get my four-year degree, that I've struggled with depression, that I'm getting divorced, or that I had a rough start to my career as a technical writer, but I don't have to talk about those things to complete strangers.

Now don't get me wrong, celebrities have a lot of perks that come from living in the public eye (lots of celebrities get paid more than I make in a year just to attend parties) and that often makes up for having to deal with the less desirable stuff.  But the fact that you can't completely move on must wear down on a person.

I recently gave a lesson in the Teacher's Quorum about repentance and the fact that we can move beyond our faults through the atonement is a fundamental principle of the gospel.  I am not suggesting that by being in the public eye, celebrities can't take advantage of the atonement, just that constantly (or even occasionally) being reminded of your past mistakes must be hard.

I don't know what kind of person Robert Downey, Jr. is, but he showed great personal strength by not cussing out the interviewer.  Sure, he may have only held back because there were cameras rolling, but his behavior was still commendable.  I think this particular event stood out to me because I could empathize with him.  Not the cameras and all of that, but feeling anxious while talking to someone and wanting to be anywhere else.  Most of us don't have the luxury of being able to walk away from someone that's offending us, but most of us aren't having our personal demons shoved in our faces either.  So while there are enviable aspects of being rich and famous, it comes with some pretty substantial negatives, too, and I wouldn't wish that lifestyle on anyone.