Killed by Celebrity

On November 11, 2008, Paula Godspeed committed suicide.  What event precipitated the voluntary end to her life?  No, her boyfriend did not break up with her.  She was not fired from her job.  None of her relatives passed away.  In fact, the night of November 11, Godspeed had recently auditioned for American Idol (for the second time) and been rejected.  Her body was found in her car parked in front of the Sherman Oaks, California, home of Paula Abdul, of whom she was the ultimate fan.  On the car in which Godspeed overdosed on drugs, the license plate read “ABL LV,” standing for “Abdul Love.”  During her first American Idol audition in 2006, Godspeed proudly announced, “I make life-sized drawings of Paula.  I have since I was a little girl.”  For 17 years, she stalked Abdul, writing her weekly letters and spying around her house.  Dr. Karen Abrams, an expert in women’s mental health and stalking, explained the reason for Godspeed’s act of suicide.  “By killing themselves in front of them, that brings them attention and they’ll always be linked with them in some way” (Dillon).  The most recent victim, Godspeed sheds light upon a budding social issue.

Celebrity worship has risen to a new, dangerous level.  These days, though not all to the extent of Godspeed, almost everyone is a fan of some celebrity or another.  At Hannah Montana concerts, hyper teeny-boppers throw themselves at the stage to get an autograph of their favorite average girl by day, superstar by night.  Little do they know that kind of behavior may lead to an ultimate demise similar to Paula Godspeed’s.  The transition from “Hannah’s #1 fan, Bailey” and Paula Godspeed is known as Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS).  First named in 2003, CWS is “an obsessive-addictive disorder in which a person becomes overtly involved with the details of a celebrity’s personal life” (Watson). 

As demonstrated by Godspeed, the consequences of CWS are painfully clear; however, the causes are not as easily interpreted.  Anti-authority critics point to “the media,” apparently a collective group of big shots plotting the takeover of people such as Paul Godspeed.  These people, unwilling and too proud to blame themselves, see the celebrities put on billboards, commercials, and advertisements and conclude the media forces their heroes upon them.  It is not true that celebrities are completely innocent, but they also do not ask or want people dying for them.  Truth is, the media only advertises them because, sadly, that is what the public considers a reliable source.  Once the people start buying products guaranteed by dermatologists rather than Vanessa Ann Hudgens and Hayden Panettiere, the marketers will surely respond.  We cannot wait for the media to stop hyping their biggest moneymakers (which will be never) but rather change ourselves to escape the temptations of celebrity worship.  Celebrity stalking syndrome cultivates in an environment of loneliness, low self-esteem, and lofty dreams that can be purified with social interaction and personal development.