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Celebrity strikes again!
Today's sad news that Susan Boyle, popular runner-up in the latest series of Britain's Got Talent, has been admitted to The Priory suggests yet again that celebrity culture is not all the hype suggests it to be.
Ms Boyle is apparently suffering from the extreme pressure of performing and dealing with the public's interest in her life.
When will we learn that the hyped-up publicity and bubble-like lifestyle that accompany modern celebrity are not particularly healthy, emotionally or psychologically for any human being caught in its glare?
Yes, there are many who deal with the impact of celebrity better than Ms Boyle seems to be able to do at present, and we can only hope that she will have all the support she needs to see her way through this period.
But let's face it, the entire celebrity machine is set up not for the benefit of the performer, but in order to sell 'units' for multi-national corporate 'talent factories'.
A few weeks ago, in an interview for BBC Radio, I shared why I believe celebrity culture is counterproductive for the people it sells to - and especially the young.
Among other things, celebrity culture offers young people only a very limited worldview, a myopic understanding of what real success is all about.
Drawing all one's heroes from the world of entertainment can't be particularly helpful to the development of a well-rounded worldview.
Yet the negative impact of celebrity culture is usually most pronounced on those whom it purports to celebrate. In this respect, the modern celebrity machine has a sad history.
History is, of course, replete with examples of celebrity, from Mozart and Liszt to Picasso. Human beings have always looked for individuals of unusual talent to celebrate.
It wasn't until the 1950s, though, that ubiquitous electronic mass media such as TV allowed people to find instant fame on a large scale. What once took time to develop, giving the celebrity time to grow into the role, became an instant phenomenon.
The scale and speed of this new kind of celebrity often chewed up the lives of the people it worshipped.
You don't have to reach far back in the news archives to find evidence of the negative impact of celebrity on artists who, by nature, are often fragile to begin with.
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We all to often think to much of what people think of us and try to be something different, to be a more rounded and balanced people. Rather than whom we really are. God tells us that "He has made us perfect in his image" so what are we doing, we are all perfect in Gods eyes and people should accept us for who we really are and not what they want us to be.
Its nice to be liked and to be the centre of attraction to some people this would be an answer to prayer but to others they would think that this is there worst nightmare, But let us not forget that we all have a purpose and a destiny that needs to be filled and what ever Gods calling on out life he will give us sufficient knowledge and understanding for what ever we face.