To be famous is to be known to a lot of people. This has its advantages as well as its disadvantages.
Famous persons get attention wherever they go. As a result, they may find that it is easier for them to get good service in restaurants or other public places. The common people often are captivated by famous people and usually go out of their way to help them.
A famous singer gets to make a lot of money from his songs. A famous sportsman earns a small fortune from his successes and sponsorship from firms. On the whole, fame brings with it financial rewards as well as a giant boost to the person’s ego.
However famous people do not have everything their way. They do have to pay a price for their fame, and the price is often too great.
As famous people get attention from others the attention is not always welcome. Since they are famous and everyone knows them, they often become the target of newspapers, magazines, gossips and sometimes madmen.
A famous person does not have much of private life. His private life is publicized by the media until he has no peace. Everything he does is recorded, edited and often exaggerated to suit the media. He often has to hide or hire bodyguards to protect himself from others.
Sometimes famous persons become the target of men who hold something against them. John Lennon, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy were all victims of assassins. That was the price they paid for being famous. Others, like Ronald Reagan, were luckier. They live to tell of their narrow escape from the hands of would-be assassins. Still, they have to live with the possibility that some other madmen may come along another day to do their dirty work.
A person becomes famous because he has performed something extraordinary that caught the attention of the media: in doing so he is actually trapping himself in his own achievement, that is, if he fails to achieve what he had done before he is likely to become the target of criticisms. He will fall from grace in the eyes of the public. This does nothing good for his ego. Muhammad Ail the boxer who was so famous at one time is seen as nothing more of a joke now ever since he lost his ability to fight. So has so many others like him. The same had even committed suicide. Fame has a terrible price.
It is better to leave fame alone, Its disadvantages far outweigh its advantages. I would rather be an ordinary person who can go for a peaceful walk down the road instead of being surrounded by bodyguards to protect me from ordinary people.