Role Models

lock if there already is a thread, I searched and didn't see any and thought it deserved its own topic, but agian if need be lock.

Role Models can be anyone, and in todays world there are a diversity of role models, or influencial people, one of the huge one's to day is Hannah Montanna/Miley Cyras. In history Adolph Hitler was a role model for many many people.

Should you look at only the good stuff they do?
Can it be dangerous? (in the sense of like being influenced by a person)
Can they change your opinion on something?

thoughts?

I have to say that Mikey, Gerard, Frank, Bob & Ray are my role models, not that they are in my favourite vand, but they are like... it's hard to say!

i find the phenomenon of Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana vaguely disturbing, actually.

the main reason is that the widespread habit of celebrity worship has extended to the below-12 group, and u have to wonder if it's healthy. It's normal to want your 15 minutes of fame and and idolise your favourite actors/singers/etc or fantasize being them for a while. But a lot of people, impressionable young people, get to the point of wanting to live the life of that role model. hence the idol stops being a 'role model' and starts being the shoes that the 'worshipper' has made it a goal to be in one day.

a good example is the MTV show, My Own, where guys and girls line up to date their very own Beyonces and Justins. Now Beyonce is a fantastic woman and a great person to adopt as a role model, but to what extent for a fan? to go one step further into a world of delusion, where u are dating not a real person but someone pretending to be what you want them so badly to be? This is not the fault of the celebrity him/herself. it is this phenomenon created by society and the media. where it is no longer enough to admire someone famous; where more and more youths are thinking it's OK to aspire to nothing more than appearing on a magazine and stepping out from a limo to the flash of the paparazzi. or even more dangerously, thinking that is all there is to fame. it is not a life; it is larger than life; it is almost a mockery of life.

And another thing. From the celeb's point of view, being worshipped as a role model can actually be a tremendous pressure. Look at how much flak Kate Moss got for that heroin thing. Closer to home, look at the ridiculous suicide cult scandal MCR was caught up in -- which was cmpletely off the mark, but still. When you stop being a mere famous person and start being an idol and shining paragon to a world of starry-eyed kids, the fall is all the greater. You are suddenly deemed responsible for the impressionable youths who happen to ape your less than ideal behaviour. And whose fault is this? Hard to say. When you put someone on a pedestal you expect them to stay there. Not very fair but it's the way of the average human being, i'm afraid.

back to Hannah Montana: i dont know if that level of crazy exposure and blinding fame is healthy for someone of Miley's age. this is someone who has never had and never will have a normal childhood. of course she doesn't feel the effects now. but all it may take is one little drunken night out and before you know it, the press will tear her down the way they tore down Lindsay.

And what will happen when her prsitine role model image collapses? The spotlight can be a cruel place to be in at her age.

The world needs to lighten up on these celebrities (Adolf Hitler aside). I love gerard, bob, mikey, frank and ray to the death, but i wouldn't judge them for doing crappy stuff occasionally -- stuff we all do as mere mortals. And from a personal POV, i don't think I would ever want to be that famous AND a role model. the pressure is just too strong.

^ you know what I agree, but alot of the attention Hannah Montanna/Miley Cyras, she creates herself, I mean the chick is 15 and taking pics of herselff where her whole back is exposed and there are others where she's showing off her bra or in a wet white tee shirt. Well now she's been saying stuff like, "I want to be the next Madonna" and "I just want to grow up faster"

Now my little sister (age 10) is a huge Miley Cyras die-hard fan, now the fact the her 15-year-old idol is taking nearly naked pictures to "grow up faster" that really gets to me, cuase now whats my little gonna do when she's 15? She already tries to copy everything that happens on the Hannah Montanna tv show.

Another person, Jamie Lynn Spears, people are now calling her the "idol" and "right example" for teenagers and more specifically teen moms. Now I have nothing agianst teen moms, but to say Jamie Lynn is an example I think is quite shabby. Every photoshoot of Jamie and her baby have been nothing less then glamourous, in reality being a mommy at 16 is not that easy. Cause while Jamie does (hopefully) take care of her baby most of the time, she stil has a ton of money that she has access to, she doesn't go to school, she ddoesn't have to go out and work a part time job to support her and her baby.

Now on the MCR aspect, I'm a huge MCR fan, and they are my "role models" they have influenced me to live my life, and in all honesty I think they are wonderful role models, people can say "oh well they are just some suicide emo death cult" but for me I look at thier lyrics and its the opposite

My Dear Delirious:

Now on the MCR aspect, I'm a huge MCR fan, and they are my "role models" they have influenced me to live my life, and in all honesty I think they are wonderful role models, people can say "oh well they are just some suicide emo death cult" but for me I look at thier lyrics and its the opposite

I agree that MCR are good role models I mean if you listen to the lyrics closely then you can understand what they mean. MCR has kept me from doing some stupid crap in the past few years especially when I've really wanted to. I don't care if people say that MCR is an emo cult but their not.

^I agree, but alot of people ask, is it really healthy?

To Zanarkand:

Yeah it's healthy.

To have someone to look up to give's direction in ones life, I think.
even if it's just your dad or grandparent.

It's only a problem when people take it to the extent of crash dieting ect

what do you mean of like crash dieting, like for example if you looked up to Mary Kate Olsen, found out she was anerxic so you became anerxic too? like that?

My Dear Delirious:

what do you mean of like crash dieting, like for example if you looked up to Mary Kate Olsen, found out she was anerxic so you became anerxic too? like that?

Sort of, I mean that some people look at people like MKO and think that they are fat for not looking like that

miley cyrus sickens me. i don't see why little kids look up to her. she's a HORRIBLE singer, she's really not all that pretty, and i don't know about you guys, but its kind of obvious to me that she's just in it for the $. I don't read tabloids, but you can't really avoid the front page. what does she make, like 1 million per note she sings? ugh. i think mcr makes great role models. not nesecerilly for little kids for the semi violent language, but i don't know, maybe for my age and up? if you think about it, they're not anerxic, they don't do drugs (anymore), if you wanted to become a great guitarist, you could look up to frank and ray, really the only bad-ish thing about them is the explicit lyrics. i'm not saying they should go and be a kids band but hey theyre not bad people look up to.

noodle2melody:

miley cyrus sickens me. i don't see why little kids look up to her. she's a HORRIBLE singer, she's really not all that pretty, and i don't know about you guys, but its kind of obvious to me that she's just in it for the $. I don't read tabloids, but you can't really avoid the front page. what does she make, like 1 million per note she sings? ugh.

I agree, but for little kids, she's not that bad a role model. Regardless of what she looks like, (which should never be criteria for choosing a role model) she's not a bad person, and I think she honestly enjoys making music and whatever else she does. I think it's more older people capitalizing on her popularity. I mean she's only fifteen, so she isn't in control of everything (if anything) that goes on with her career. Personally I think she's too young to be in the spotlight like that.
And also, don't believe everything you read/see in a tabloid.
As far as MCR goes, what originally attracted me to them wasn't their music, but their attitudes. I was surprised by the statements they made, and liked them mostly because of the good things they do. They aren't my number 1 role models, but they are good role models.

As Ali stated abouve,
Miley Cyrus is taking bad pictures of herself and leaks them on the internet. Also as stated abouve, Even though she is young, it wont be long until she screws up her career. To be honest, I was a fan of her until the Vanity Fair photos came out.

Yeah. Im aware it was just her back exposed. But what about the [horrible] photo with her dad?! Would any normal girl lay across their dad like that, looking secductive? Im sorry. I just think its wrong.

What bugs me is that parents think that she is a great role model, aside from these things. She is one more scandal away from screwing her career, in my opinion. Would parents want their children to be like this?

heartbreak tragedy:

Miley Cyrus is taking bad pictures of herself and leaks them on the internet.

She didn't leak them, they where leaked. And they where supposedly for her boyfriend. They where supposed to be private. She wasn't naked in any of them, may I remind you of the Pete Wentz photos that where leaked?

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Yeah. Im aware it was just her back exposed. But what about the [horrible] photo with her dad?! Would any normal girl lay across their dad like that, looking secductive? Im sorry. I just think its wrong.

I don't think those photos where meant to be seductive looking. I don't think she said "Hey how about I lay across my dad in a way that could be suggestive", they where probably posed that way by someone else. Some of the other young stars have done photo shoots where they are completely butt naked.
And she made a statement apologizing for it:
"I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologise to my fans who I care so deeply about,"
I think the networks statement was spot on:
"Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines,"

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What bugs me is that parents think that she is a great role model, aside from these things. She is one more scandal away from screwing her career, in my opinion. Would parents want their children to be like this?

She doesn't do drugs, she doesn't sleep around, she doesn't dress like a slut, and she's a nice young lady. These 'scandals' really aren't that scandalous. So she's made some mistakes, everyone does. I can't even imagine what kind of pressure she is under. None of us know what it's like to be her, and it's unfair to judge her like that.

noodle2melody:

miley cyrus sickens me. i don't see why little kids look up to her. she's a HORRIBLE singer, she's really not all that pretty, and i don't know about you guys, but its kind of obvious to me that she's just in it for the $. I don't read tabloids, but you can't really avoid the front page. what does she make, like 1 million per note she sings? ugh. i think mcr makes great role models. not nesecerilly for little kids for the semi violent language, but i don't know, maybe for my age and up? if you think about it, they're not anerxic, they don't do drugs (anymore), if you wanted to become a great guitarist, you could look up to frank and ray, really the only bad-ish thing about them is the explicit lyrics. i'm not saying they should go and be a kids band but hey theyre not bad people look up to.

This isn't a thread to bash other artists.

What might be horrible singing to you might just be amazing to another person. Personally, I don't think Gerars is that much of an amazing singer but does that make him any less of an idol to some? No. You hink she's unnatractive? So what? If you pick your role models by there looks then you need to sort out your priorities.

Personally I love Miley Cyrus, She's not annorexic, as far as I know she doesn't take drugs and above all she's made a name for herself. She's a great actress and a great singer.

Big wooop she showed her back in a magazine, heaven forbid if young kids ever went to the beach and saw a byunch of woman in bikini's.

Eponine:

These 'scandals' really aren't that scandalous. So she's made some mistakes, everyone does. I can't even imagine what kind of pressure she is under. None of us know what it's like to be her, and it's unfair to judge her like that.

To Zanarkand:

Personally I love Miley Cyrus, She's not annorexic, as far as I know she doesn't take drugs and above all she's made a name for herself. She's a great actress and a great singer.

Big wooop she showed her back in a magazine, heaven forbid if young kids ever went to the beach and saw a byunch of woman in bikini's.

now I agree and I disagree, like Zanarkand said, we don't know if she is doing anything like drugs or sleeping around, we assume she isn't, but we never really know. She has made a name for herself, and alot of people does fucos in on the good stuff, and some people do only focus on that one phootshoot.

Now I do feel for Miley Cyras, I have met her and every second there was security guards around her and they were yelling quite abit and they rushed her through everything and it seemed her life was such a rush she didn't really enjoy it. And I do give her credit that there was this chick standing next to me and Miley was like her idol and Miley promised to take a picture with her but she was taking a pic with someone else, her security guards started to shoo everyone off and wonuldn't let that girl go to Miley, so Miley made them stop and walked up to her. In that regard she does seem like a nice person, but that was like 2 years ago. I was there because my dad is a huge Miley Cyras fan and so is my sister but my little sister was doing something.

On the contrary fame does get to people, and especially if your thrust in front of the spotlight and you just basically blow up to this huge icon that millions of kids and people look up to, and having the public watch your every move can't be easy at all. What gets me about Miley Cyras is that it seems she has gotten away from her fans and into more making herself look "older" or "better". Now you might say she is a great role model because she's a young actress in Hollywood that as far as we know doesn't have an eating disorder, doesn't do drugs and isn't premiscoues. That doesn't mean she might do that someday (as like what happened to Mary Kate Olsen) but I still think her morals might be shaky, just because of some of the statements she has made and the photos she has taken. true those photos might not be that bad, but it is still somewhat disturbing a 15 year old wants to grow up faster and part of doing that is by taking somewhat revealing pics

To Zanarkand:

Personally I love Miley Cyrus, She's not annorexic, as far as I know she doesn't take drugs and above all she's made a name for herself. She's a great actress and a great singer.

Well, that last sentence is pretty subjective, isn't it? If I named her as my role model, it would probably be based on positive messages she sends out rather than the quality of her voice. Also, I don't know if I'd say she's made a name for herself, rather, her parents have, first by her father already being famous and her mother for selling her to disney at such a young age.

And if they get me and the sun goes down into the ground

My Dear Delirious:

Should you look at only the good stuff they do?
Can it be dangerous? (in the sense of like being influenced by a person)
Can they change your opinion on something?

well, yeah we should look at the good stuff they do but what if like someone's role model does more un-good stuff? Which in my opinion, the danger part comes in. what if someones role model is someone who does very ungrateful things? Does this person really want to be just like the? and i do agree that miley cyrus is like, huge for girls these days, but what, don't kill me if you're a miley fan, but what if she beat someone up? would the kid that looks up to them support them somehow? i think looking up to someone should not mean being just like them, no. it should mean looking up to the great successes / good things they've done. because rold models can change your opinions on things. i know i don't exactly look up to one, specific person, i follow all great people but i never, and i actually mean the term 'never' say "I want to be just like them." which a lot of kinds say, but what does that really mean? this sometimes gets taken too far. and then, there's no originality ):

and adding to that, miley cyrus and other people aren't rold models, always because of the positive things they do. sometimes it's because they have nice hair, or they're voice / skills are really good, or they're very pretty. that stuff shouldn't count so much..

Honestly, I think we could use some more female role models in Hollywood. With all these people like Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Amy Whinehouse, and plenty of other celebs, little girls have no one to look up to in a positive way! I'm a 14 year old girl, and all of my role models are guys! I'm not trying to be sexist by saying that girls in Hollywood are ALL bad influences. I'm sure there are plenty of female role models out there that little girls can look up to. I'm just saying that the media is MESSED UP!!!! Because all they concentrate on is which star is getting arrested this week for staying out WAY too late and driving home drunk and stoned! We need to see more of the good people. In my opinion!

Disenchanted Parade:

Honestly, I think we could use some more female role models in Hollywood. With all these people like Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Amy Whinehouse, and plenty of other celebs, little girls have no one to look up to in a positive way! I'm a 14 year old girl, and all of my role models are guys! I'm not trying to be sexist by saying that girls in Hollywood are ALL bad influences. I'm sure there are plenty of female role models out there that little girls can look up to. I'm just saying that the media is MESSED UP!!!! Because all they concentrate on is which star is getting arrested this week for staying out WAY too late and driving home drunk and stoned! We need to see more of the good people. In my opinion!

Okay. For the most part, I agree with you. The Hollywood Role Models that are female mostly have bad things attached to them.For example, Pamela Anderson. She is an animal rights activist and she has stated the two things she loves the most are 'sex and animal rights"

Now. We can take her as a bad infulence for um. Okay. i dont know how to put that. But, we can take her as a good infulence for following animal rights. I think it mostly depends on what they inspire you to do...

Now. When you said their are no good infulences in Hollywood. I disagreed with you. Most of my heroes are guys, yes, BUT, two of my greatest inspirations that are female are Lacey Mosely of Flyleaf, because she has dealt with suicidal thoughts, drugs, and depression, and she is clean now, proving to me that I can overcome anything if she can. Also, Hayley Williams I find is a good inspiration.

Like I said, I think it all depends on how a person inspires you