Basic Trope: A celebrity hates being famous.
- Straight: After many years starring in movies and TV, Alice decides to retire from acting for good.
- Exaggerated: Alice sells her mansion and everything in it, moves to a one-bedroom apartment, and takes on a job at a call center.
- Downplayed: Alice decides to go from starring in movies to TV.
- Justified:
- Alice wants to lead a normal life, and be able to go places and do things without people speculating about whether that belly bulge is a baby bump or a sign that Alice has "let herself go," or scrutinizing her relationships/diet/political beliefs/clothes/health/etc.
- Alice has been subjected to aspects of Horrible Hollywood, such as the Hollywood Hype Machine, lack of privacy, working with The Primadonna, Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll, several short-lived marriages that haven't worked out due to the stresses of being a celebrity, etc.
- Alice is a Former Child Star who stopped being cute, and is having trouble getting any work.
- Alice is a Former Child Star who was pushed into it by her Stage Mom, but what she really wanted to be when she grew up was a doctor. Alice decides that now is as good a time as any to quit showbiz and go to medical school.
- Alice is Quitting to Get Married.
- Inverted:
- Alice, who started off as some nobody living in Flyover Country becomes a famous movie star.
- Alice is a White-Dwarf Starlet or Former Child Star who should have gracefully stepped out of the limelight years ago, but vehemently refuses.
- Subverted:
- Alice goes from appearing in movies to appearing on D-list Reality TV shows, or Japandering.
- Alice is taking a hiatus, but does eventually plan to come back to acting.
- Most of Alice's income comes not from the box office, but rather from a long list of licensed products and endorsements.
- Alice does a stint in rehab for drugs and alcohol.
- Alice doesn't go on to lead a "normal" (American) life, but rather goes on to become a Buddhist nun in Tibet.
- It wasn't so much that Alice wanted to quit, it's just that the world got tired of her, and she's having trouble finding work.
- Double Subverted:
- After a while, she even gives that up. Or, she's only doing that because she has bills to pay.
- She decides that she liked being on hiatus better than working, and changes her mind about going back.
- She decides she'll just quit acting, and the only time she's ever seen is hawking products on late-night/early morning Infomercials.
- While in rehab, her therapist helps her figure out that the root cause of her addiction(s) is the stress related to showbiz and fame. Alice makes a decision to quit, and leads a clean, sober, quiet life after she gets out.
- Becoming a Buddhist nun (or any kind of nun, for that matter) would entail leaving Hollywood, selling or donating her two mansions and everything in them, and leaving that life completely behind.
- She decides that she had a good run, but now maybe it's time to step out of the limelight.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig Zagged: Alice announces she's quitting showbusiness, but then does a comeback show 5 years later, then decides to quit again, then does commercials to pay the bills, etc.
- Averted:
- Alice doesn't leave showbusiness.
- Alice isn't a celebrity to begin with.
- Enforced: The producer hates modern celebrity culture, so they ordered the writers to push an "anti-celebrity" aesop.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: Alice goes to get a bagel and coffee, and she is hounded by fans who won't stop clamoring for autographs, and paparazzi who won't stop following her. Then she finds out her doctor sold information about her health to the tabloids. Then she has a fight with Bob that culminates in the words, "I want a divorce!", and she knows that if the tabloids hear about that, it will be a nightmare. Then she gets on the set, and is irritated by her costar Donna screaming at someone because they took too long getting her a latte, and the director throwing a temper tantrum at every turn. She decides that after this movie is finished, she's going to quit showbusiness.
- Exploited: Alice threatens to quit, so that she'll be offered higher pay, better accommodations, etc. And she never intends to follow through.
- Defied: Alice decides she's going to keep acting until she dies, even if it means being Typecast as somebody's Granny Classic.
- Discussed: Alice meets a young, up-and-coming professional boxer named Flash Young, who's interested in making movies. She has this conversation with him to deter him from making the same mistake she did:Alice: Well, trying to go down that road's gonna leave you a washed up, bitter, and miserable old bum who can't handle the stress and bullshit Hollywood gives you. Unless you've already been through some kind of hell making you a horrible jerk; In that case, you still shouldn't go down that road, your life expectancy might cut down short due to a heart attack or an aneurysm.Flash: Damn. Never knew. This guy, Paul Dyson, he's offerin' me a chance to star in this action movie if I shot a "one-on-one film" with him, though the only set I saw there was a couch.Alice: Oh my fucking God, Paul!? Turn that offer down NOW. Not only will it spare you from the pain of being a movie star, that guy was basically telling you that if you want the role, then you're gonna have to fuck him or some other co-star. Disgusting pig...Flash: Wait, y'know that guy?Alice: Had to do the same thing with him, get fucked on the couch and he... Ugh... He finished inside me. Then he forced me to get an abortion, thank God for that. As I said, turn the offer down, and keep boxing. In fact, you'd be better off being a garbage man than working in Hollywood. It's THAT bad.
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Alice's fans become distraught upon hearing the news, resulting in an outpour of support for the actress' future.
You know, Celebrity Is Overrated. I think I'll go back to the main page and lead a nice, quiet, stress-free life.
