History Main / CelebrityIsOverrated

* From {{Website/Cracked}}'s [[http://www.cracked.com/article_17061_5-things-you-think-will-make-you-happy-but-wont.html#ixzz17RaVATLZ "5 Things You Think Will Make You Happy (But Won't)"]]:
-->Experts say where you find kids who desperately want to be famous, you find a history of neglect at home. Parents were either absent completely or, at best, emotionally distant dicks. It turns out the whole surge in aspirations for fame came right along with the explosion of single parents and "broken" homes. Only half of today's children live with their original two parents.
-->You can see how this sad mechanism works in the attention-starved mind. The kid is programmed by biology to love a parent, but the parent doesn't return the love. Fame lets them turn the tables on that arrangement. When you're famous, millions love you, but you don't even know their names. It's purely one-sided. They wait for hours in the cold for your autograph, you barely glance at them on the way to your limo. You get to take their love and wipe your ass with it, the same as your parents did to you.

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-->--'''FiveIronFrenzy''', "Superpowers"

* ''LoveHina'', episode title "The Idol Shooting for Tokyo U is a Prep School Student: Sing!" -- Naru gains sudden success as a singing idol in the wake of a talent contest but gives it up to return to Hinata House, using the threat of a trivial scandal as an excuse.

* In ''SailorMoon'', Minako actually passes her idol singer audition at one point, but chooses to remain with her friends (and continue fighting the BigBad) rather than pursue her dream of becoming an idol singer.

* The entire premise of ''PerfectBlue''.
* Yang Wen-li from ''LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' refused to capitalise on his new-found fame as "Hero of El Facil"[[note]] where he successfully evacuated 3 million civilians from a planet that faced an Imperial invasion[[/note]] and allowed himself to lapse into (relative) obscurity. Eight years later, after he became a national hero again by successfully capturing the strategically vital Iserlohn Fortress[[note]] using only half a fleet and succeeding where his predecessors had failed with much larger forces for six times[[/note]], he again did nothing about his fame and even contemplated retiring because he hoped capturing the fortress will create favourable conditions to conclude a peace treaty and end the war.
* In {{Robotech}}, Minmei feels this way towards the end of the series. A large part of it has to do with the fact that Earth just barely survived an orbital bombardment by over 4 million alien ships, people are struggling just to survive, and most importantly (to her), she never get to spend time with her LoveInterest, Rick Hunter.

* In ''EdTV'', a film that deconstructed RealityTV [[UnbuiltTrope even before there was such a thing]], Ed, who becomes the world's first Reality TV star, ends up learning that it's hard to have meaningful relationships when TV cameras are following you around everywhere.
* Anna Scott from NottingHill is far too aware of this.

* The ''{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''How I Learned to Fly'' is based around this, making it seem really out-of-place in a series dedicated to supernatural horrors. This is best seen in the end, when [[spoiler: the hero pretends to lose his powers to live a happy life with his LoveInterest, while his rival leads a miserable and empty life being famous]].

* ''HanginWithMrCooper'': Raven Symone's character proves to be good at chess, but when her mom Geneva finds out that training her for world championships would be a hassle, she decides against letting her train.
* Played straight throughout the run of ''{{Friends}}'' where Joey, an aspiring actor, absolutely basks in his celebrity status when he is successful.

* An episode of ''BlackBooks'' has Bernard and Manny writing the worlds greatest children's book, which initially ends up being a quite good adult book and then rewritten as a somewhat average children's book. They eventually burn it while drunk due to the fact they can't handle the fame it will no doubt bring them. When they sober up, they can't remember what the book was about or why they burned it.
* In an episode of ''Series/AlienNation'', a camera crew is following the HumanAlien Detective George Francisco and his human partner on a case. The journalists portray George as a super-detective, mostly to improve relations between Newcomers and humans, while completely ignoring his partner. While George is initially flattered by all the fame, he eventually ditches the camera crew to go solve the crime with his partner, after getting tired of the pressure.
* Explored in ''CSIMiami''[='=]s episode "Cyber-lebrity" in which an average swimmer ended up becoming a web celebrity as a result of a photo of her and now she had all these cyber stalkers who updates her location wherever she is. She ended up getting threatened for her life as a result of all this. She was thankful when people stopped stalking her.
* When ''{{Wienerville}}'' got a magic lamp, Dottie [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor wished to be]] [[WhatAnIdiot the most famous person in the world]]. Never even learned what she was famous for.

* As the page quote demonstrates, FiveIronFrenzy had a couple songs about this; further, Reese Roper, the band's singer and [[FaceOfTheBand frontman]], refused to indulge in some of the more egocentric trappings of celebrity, like signing autographs (this was also because he was the only one that ''all'' the fans could even name, let alone recognize, and he felt signing autographs himself took away attention from his equally talented bandmates).
* [[KanyeWest "I used to want this thing forever, y'all can have it back."]]
* "Limelight" by {{Rush}} touches on this theme, with lyrics about a "gilded cage" and such.
* "Napoleon" by AniDiFranco has the singer reconnecting with an old friend who wins fame and fortune and then promptly cuts ties with the old crowd in favor of their "new friends".

* "Celebrity" by the BarenakedLadies uses this trope to demonstrate the old adage, "The grass is always greener on the other side." When you're nobody, you want to be famous. When you're famous, you want to be nobody.

* {{Radiohead}}'s "Life In a Glass House" is (elliptically) about how horrible Thom Yorke found people being interested in him to be. You could probably already have guessed from the steep drop in musical accessibility and lyrical openness between all the songs on "OK Computer" and "Kid A".
* This is the point of the DavidBowie song "Fame": "What you like is in the limo/What you get is no tomorrow".
* {{Taylor Swift}}'s "The Lucky One" does this:

* ''HeyArnold!'', "Mr. Hyunh Goes Country": Hyunh becomes a famous country singer, but he announces at his Great Ol' Opry performance that his true dream is to be a chef, and absolutely precludes further performances.
** "Stinky Goes Hollywood": Stinky has been selected to do a commercial campaign for Yahoo Soda. After filming several ads, Stinky's family and friends want him to sign a $1m commercial contract, but Stinky has found out that why he was picked (having overheard an executive mocking his name), and, presumably fearing that the commercials will be mocking his hayseed image (and other personal inferiorities), decides that his pride is more important... and ends up being mocked as [[{{What an idiot}} an idiot]] by Helga for not signing.

* ''FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'', "Sweet Stench of Success": Bloo gains fame as spokesperson for Deo deodorant, but when he notices that his producer is overworking him (and won't let him have time with his pals, natch), Bloo goes on a live variety show and chews out the producer real hard, opening with a [[{{SuspiciouslyAproposMusic}} suspiciously apropos song]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' did this multiple times. Probably the most notable time was in "Bart Gets Famous", when Bart became the 'I-Didn't-Do-It Boy'. Bart at first loves the fame and attention it gets him, but eventually gets sick of the fact that he's treated as a one-trick pony. He goes on a talk show, having actually researched current events so he could have something to talk about, but [[Creator/ConanOBrien the host]] only wants him to say the line and nothing else. Marge tells him that even if he hates it, he at least has the ability to make people happy which makes his fame worthwhile. Bart is encouraged by this, but ironically, his fame dies out when the people lose interest in the fad.

-->'''Homer:''' I'll miss you, [[Music/SmashingPumpkins Pumpkins]], but I just can't share your bleak world view. I've got too much to live for.
-->'''Billy Corgan:''' We envy you, Homer. [[CursedWithAwesome All we have is our music, our legion of fans, our million of dollars and our youth...]]
-->(''{{Beat}}'')
-->'''Smashing Pumpkins:''' Woo-hoo!
-->'''James Iha:''' Let's all go out and buy fur coats!
-->'''Jimmy Chamberlin:''' I want a walk-in humidor.
* KimPossible never hunts for celebrity, ever. Even when she's at the X-Games competition and have enough MAD SKILLZ to own the entire competition, she just hunts for the villain. Compare this with [[IJustWantToBeSpecial Ron Stoppable]] who spent the entire episode becoming a famous jock just so he could get any ladies.
** She's impressed when a film producer plans to make a movie about her, but it doesn't seem to have occurred to her that her adventures would make good entertainment.
** But of course, despite all her [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld Saving the World experience]], Kim doesn't mind being featured on the cover of a random teen magazine for her cheerleading moves...

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' had Timmy finding out he was the subject of a reality show in Fairy World. Now that he was a star, his life became the result of ExecutiveMeddling by the show's producer, Simon, causing him to lose his mother, his friends, and nearly his godparents.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "The Two Faces Of Squidward" the titular cephalopod first enjoys the attentions of everyone anxious to gaze at his new David-esque looks, but soon their excess devotion has him begging for his old face back.
* ''PepperAnn'': the title character is not so sure about her mother doing a comedy act, but by story's end, she's warmed up to her act enough to be surprised to hear that mom's not pursuing a career in comedy.
* An episode of ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'' has [[ThePollyanna Jimmy]] becoming famous by coining a new CatchPhrase, with [[BigEater Beezy]] becoming his manager and [[EnfanteTerrible Heloise]] his bodyguard. He likes it at first, but quickly realizes he's mobbed whenever he goes outside, and he can't even go to the bathroom without attracting attention to himself.

* Parodied in ''{{Garfield}} Goes Hollywood'' by Garfield himself. As Jon trots out the usual justifications for this trope, such as forgetting who they are and about the little people, Garfield welcomes all that in his usual snarky manner. It's still played straight with Jon though, as really, he's afraid that his pets will forget about him.
* Cherry Jam's reason for moving to Berry Bitty City in ''StrawberryShortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures''.

* Kurt Cobain probably wanted to be famous in the same way that most previous alternative rockers had been "famous" ie; well known in the music scene but not in any way mainstream. [[Music/{{Nirvana}} His band's]] huge success, way above what any other similar bands had reached, caused a lot of stress in his life, and it's believed to be a big part of why he [[DrivenToSuicide killed himself]]. Although the fact he repeatedly went on MTV to decry the mainstream undercut his point slightly.

* GeorgeWashington is an interesting example of this trope. As a young man he hungered for military glory but eventually matured and settled for life as a gentleman planter. Then of course he got involved in politics, emerged from the Revolution and found it almost more than he could handle.
* DaveChappelle famously walked away from ''Series/ChappellesShow'' on Comedy Central at the height of its popularity after becoming displeased with the working environment and some of the fans. After a sabbatical in South Africa he returned to stand-up comedy but seems to have retired from anything high profile for good, and has publicly commented on his happiness living with his family on his farm in Ohio.
* J.D. Salinger rued his fame brought by ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye''. He famously hermitted himself away and refused to even be interviewed for the last thirty years of his life.

* EltonJohn is an interesting case. As reflected in an example above, he was an emotionally suppressed boy with an [[WellDoneSonGuy emotionally distant, strict father]] and a doting mother. The two parents divorced, but the effects of such a childhood scarred him for life. He was encouraged to only wear conservative clothing and be a banker, and was discouraged from pursuing a career in rock and roll. Elton was shy, overweight, gap-toothed, played the relatively unhip instrument of piano, wore glasses (he didn't need them at first, but he idolized BuddyHolly and wanted to wear glasses like Buddy, to the point that it damaged his vision) and was [[AmbiguouslyGay struggling with his homosexuality]]. Because of this, when he took on the "Elton" persona, he wore increasingly [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes flamboyant clothing]] and [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself glasses]] and acted outrageously, [[FreudianExcuse partly as a riposte to what his dad wanted him to be]], and to hide his insecurities. He took [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll cocaine, marijuana and alcohol]] to feel a part of the scene and open up, and because it felt good to him at first; they had also sever as an aphrodisiac. Later, the drugs, alcohol, depression, promiscuity and bulimia caught up with him and nearly killed him. He enjoyed the celebrity, but could not cope with life away from celebrity, and often his being busy with albums and touring would, by WordOfGod, keep him from overdosing in his room alone and dying young. He cleaned up by the end of TheEighties and got his life back on track. He still, however, is very self-conscious about his looks [[WordOfGod and claims]] he hates having his picture taken and hates to make music videos, which might explain why by the beginning of TheOughties, he stopped appearing in them (or appears in a limited amount).
* [[LawrenceOfArabia T. E. Lawrence]] spent several years between the wars trying to disappear.
* In one interview, David Duchovny and the host were discussing that actors would very much like to be athletes or rock stars, musicians would love to be athletes or actors and sportsmen would prefer to be actors or musicians. In another, he mentioned that though he enjoyed acting, it made him feel that it was not anything substantial like, say, scientists' contributions were.
* Jake Lloyd, known as Anakin Skywalker from ''[[{{Film/ThePhantomMenace}} Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace]]'', retired from acting in 2002, saying that he suffered constant bullying from his classmates.

* Paul Scofield generally refused press interviews and rarely made public appearances off-stage (though he enjoyed meeting individual fans). When he received an Oscar for ''AManForAllSeasons'' Scofield refused to accept it in-person. Nor did it change Scofield's attitude, as he turned down many of the resulting film offers he felt were too high profile.
* Stephen King has stated that he hates being famous due to his nervousness with crowds and genuine lack of understanding why people care about what he views as an uninteresting life. He even refuses to sign autographs (Though he does participate in book signings). Given that he has often had people camping outside of his house and once had a mentally unstable woman break into his home and threaten his wife, one can understand his unhappiness.
* MaraWilson was a [[FormerChildStar burgeoning child talent]] in TheNineties in movies like ''MrsDoubtfire'', the 1994 remake of ''MiracleOn34thStreet'' and the title role in ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', but during the making of ''Matilda'' her mother tragically died of breast cancer. Having already decided she didn't want to do act for a living, her career slowed down with critical and commercial flops like ''ASimpleWish'' and ''[[ThomasTheTankEngine Thomas And The Magic Railroad]]''. She was typecast in "cutesy" roles while hoping for more substantial opportunities, she felt awkward as she grew up, and, as she later mentioned, she came to the conclusion that "film acting (wasn't) very fun". She left show business after ''Thomas'', went to a number of colleges in her new hometown of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, and now works as a playwright, runs [[http://www.marawilsonwritesstuff.com a popular blog online]] and volunteers for Publicolor, a not-for-profit organization that creates imaginative and colorful paint jobs for inner-city schools.

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-->'''Billy Corgan:''' We envy you, Homer. All we have is our music, our legion of fans, our million of dollars and our youth...

* ''TheSimpsons'' did this multiple times. Probably the most notable time was when Bart became the 'I-Didn't-Do-It Boy'. Bart at first loves the fame and attention it gets him, but eventually gets sick of the fact that he's treated as a one-trick pony. He goes on a talk show, having actually researched current events so he could have something to talk about, but [[Creator/ConanOBrien the host]] only wants him to say the line and nothing else. Marge tells him that even if he hates it, he at least has the ability to make people happy which makes his fame worthwhile. Bart is encouraged by this, but ironically, his fame dies out when the people lose interest in the fad.

* MaraWilson was a [[FormerChildStar burgeoning child talent]] in TheNineties in movies like ''MrsDoubtfire'', the 1994 remake of ''MiracleOn34thStreet'' and the title role in ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', but during the making of ''Matilda'' her mother tragically died of breast cancer. Having already decided she didn't want to do act for a living, her career slowed down with critical and commercial flops like ''ASimpleWish'' and ''[[ThomasTheTankEngine Thomas And The Magic Railroad]]''. She was typecast in "cutesy" roles while hoping for more substantial opportunities, she felt awkward as she grew up, and, as she later mentioned, she came to the conclusion that "film acting (wasn't) very fun". She left show business after ''Thomas'', went to a number of colleges in hew new hometown of NewYorkCity, and now works as a playwright, runs [[http://www.marawilsonwritesstuff.com a popular blog online]] and volunteers for Publicolor, a not-for-profit organization that creates imaginative and colorful paint jobs for inner-city schools.

* Although overall he's quite happy being a wealthy, famous bestselling novelist, the first episode of ''{{Castle}}'' makes it quite clear that Richard Castle is getting a little bored with the repetitive monotony of fame and the shallow world he's found himself in (except for the bits where he gets to sign the breasts of attractive, flirty women. He doesn't mind those bits much), which is partly why he finds the idea of solving mysteries with down-to-earth cops quite appealing.

** Lampshade in the X-Mas episode. Naru calls out to Keitaro with help from a reporter who recognized her.

* MaraWilson was a [[FormerChildStar burgeoning child talent]] in TheNineties in movies like ''MrsDoubtfire'', the 1994 remake of ''MiracleOn34thStreet'' and the title role in ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', but during the making of ''Matilda'' her mother tragically died of breast cancer. Having already decided she didn't want to do act for a living, her career slowed down with critical and commercial flops like ''ASimpleWish'' and ''[[ThomasTheTankEngine Thomas And The Magic Railroad]]''. She was typecast in "cutesy" roles while hoping for more substantial opportunities, she felt awkward as she grew up, and, as she later mentioned, she came to the conclusion that "film acting (wasn't) very fun". She left show business after ''Thomas'', went to a number of colleges in hew new hometown of NewYorkCity, and now works as a playwright, runs [[http://www.marawilsonwritesstuff a popular blog online]] and volunteers for Publicolor, a not-for-profit organization that creates imaginative and colorful paint jobs for inner-city schools.

* MaraWilson was a burgeoning child talent in TheNineties in movies like ''MrsDoubtfire'', the 1994 remake of ''MiracleOn34thStreet'' and the title role in ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', but during the making of ''Matilda'' her mother tragically died of breast cancer. Having already decided she didn't want to do act for a living, her career slowed down with critical and commercial flops like ''ASimpleWish'' and ''[[ThomasTheTankEngine Thomas And The Magic Railroad]]''. She was typecast in "cutesy" roles while hoping for more substantial opportunities, she felt awkward as she grew up, and, as she later mentioned, she came to the conclusion that "film acting (wasn't) very fun". She left show business after ''Thomas'', went to a number of colleges in hew new hometown of NewYorkCity, and now works as a playwright, runs [[http://www.marawilsonwritesstuff a popular blog online]] and volunteers for Publicolor, a not-for-profit organization that creates imaginative and colorful paint jobs for inner-city schools.

* MaraWilson was a burgeoning child talent in TheNineties in movies like ''MrsDoubtfire'', the 1994 remake of ''MiracleOn34thStreet'' and the title role in ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', but during the making of ''Matilda'' her mother tragically died of breast cancer. Having already decided she didn't want to do act for a living, her career slowed down with critical and commercial flops like ''ASimpleWish'' and ''[[ThomasTheTankEngine ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad]]''. She was typecast in "cutesy" roles while hoping for more substantial opportunities, she felt awkward as she grew up, and, as she later mentioned, she came to the conclusion that "film acting (wasn't) very fun". She left show business after ''Thomas'', went to a number of colleges in hew new hometown of NewYorkCity, and now works as a playwright, runs [[http://www.marawilsonwritesstuff a popular blog online]] and volunteers for Publicolor, a not-for-profit organization that creates imaginative and colorful paint jobs for inner-city schools.

* MaraWilson was a burgeoning child talent in TheNineties in movies like ''MrsDoubtfire'', the 1994 remake of ''MiracleOn34thStreet'' and the title role in ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', but during the making of ''Matilda'' her mother tragically died of breast cancer. Having already decided she didn't want to do act for a living, her career slowed down with critical and commercial flops like ''ASimpleWish'' and ''ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''. She was typecast in "cutesy" roles while hoping for more substantial opportunities, she felt awkward as she grew up, and, as she later mentioned, she came to the conclusion that "film acting (wasn't) very fun". She left show business after ''Thomas'', went to a number of colleges in hew new hometown of NewYorkCity, and now works as a playwright, runs [[http://www.marawilsonwritesstuff a popular blog online]] and volunteers for Publicolor, a not-for-profit organization that creates imaginative and colorful paint jobs for inner-city schools.

* MaraWilson was a burgeoning child talent in TheNineties in movies like ''MrsDoubtfire'', the 1994 remake of ''MiracleOn34thStreet'' and the title role in ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', but during the making of ''Matilda'' her mother tragically died of breast cancer. Having already decided she didn't want to do act for a living, her career slowed down with critical and commercial flops like ''ASimpleWish'' and ''ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''. She was typecast in "cutesy" roles while hoping for more substantial opportunies, she felt awkward as she grew up, and, as she later mentioned, she came to the conclusion that "film acting (wasn't) very fun". She left show business after ''Thomas'', went to a number of colleges in hew new hometown of NewYorkCity, and now works as a playwright, runs [[http://www.marawilsonwritesstuff a popular blog online]] and volunteers for Publicolor, a not-for-profit organization that creates imaginative and colorful paint jobs for inner-city schools.

* MaraWilson was a burgeoning child talent is movies like ''Film/{{Matilda}}'' and ''MrsDoubtfire'', but during the making of ''Matilda'' her mother tragically died of breast cancer. Having already decided she didn't want to do act for a living, her career slowed down with critical and commercial flops like ''ASimpleWish'' and ''ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''. She was typecast in "cutesy" roles while hoping for more substantial opportunies, she felt awkward as she grew up, and, as she later mentioned, she came to the conclusion that "film acting (wasn't) very fun". She left show business after ''Thomas'', went to a number of colleges in hew new hometown of NewYorkCity, and now works as a playwright, runs [[http://www.marawilsonwritesstuff a popular blog online]] and volunteers for Publicolor, a not-for-profit organization that creates imaginative and colorful paint jobs for inner-city schools.

* EltonJohn is an interesting case. As reflected in an example above, he was an emotionally suppressed boy with an [[WellDoneSonGuy emotionally distant, strict father]] and a doting mother. The two parents divorced, but the effects of such a childhood scarred him for life. He was encouraged to only wear conservative clothing and be a banker, and was discouraged from pursuing a career in rock and roll. Elton was shy, overweight, gap-toothed, played the relatively unhip instrument of piano, wore glasses (he didn't need them at first, but he idolized BuddyHolly and wanted to wear glasses like Buddy, to the point that it damaged his vision) and was [[AmbiguouslyGay struggling with his homosexuality]]. Because of this, when he took on the "Elton" persona, he wore increasingly [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes flamboyant clothing]] and [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself glasses]] and acted outrageously, [[FreudianExcuse partly as a riposte to what his dad wanted him to be]], and to hide his insecurities. He took [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll cocaine, marijuana and alcohol]] to feel a part of the scene and open up, and because it felt good to him at first; they had also sever as an aphrodisiac. Later, the drugs, alcohol, depression, promiscuity and bulimia caught up with him and nearly killed him. He enjoyed the celebrity, but could not cope with life away from celebrity, and often his being busy with albums and touring would, by WordOfGod, keep him from overdosing in his room alone and dying young. He cleaned up by the end of TheEighties and got his life back on track. He still, however, is very self-conscious about his looks [[WordOfGod and claims]] he hates having his picture taken and hates to make music videos, which might explain why by the beginning of TheNewTens, he stopped appearing in them (or appears in a limited amount).

* EltonJohn is an interesting case. As reflected in an example above, he was an emotionally suppressed boy with an [[WellDoneSonGuy emotionally distant, strict father]] and a doting mother. The two parents divorced, but the effects of such a childhood scarred him for life. He was encouraged to only wear conservative clothing and be a banker, and was discouraged from pursuing a career in rock and roll. Elton was shy, overweight, gap-toothed, played the relatively unhip instrument of piano, wore glasses (he didn't need them at first, but he idolized BuddyHolly and wanted to wear glasses like Buddy, to the point that it damaged his vision) and was [[AmbiguouslyGay struggling with his homosexuality]]. Because of this, when he took on the "Elton" persona, he wore increasingly [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes flamboyant clothing]] and [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself glasses]] and acted outrageously, [[FreudianExcuse partly as a riposte to what his dad wanted him to be]], and to hide his insecurities. He took [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll cocaine, marijuana and alcohol]] to feel a part of the scene and open up, and because it felt good to him at first; they had also sever as an aphrodisiac. Later, the drugs, alcohol, depression, promiscuity and bulimia caught up with him and nearly killed him. He enjoyed the celebrity, but could not cope with life away from celebrity, and often his being busy with albums and touring would, by WordOfGod, keep him from overdosing in his room alone and dying young. He cleaned up by the end of TheEighties and got his life back on track. He still, however, is very self-conscious about his looks [[WordOfGod and claims]] he hates having his picture taken and hates to make music videos, which might explain why by the beginning of TheNewOughts, he stopped appearing in them (or appears in a limited amount).

* EltonJohn is an interesting case. As reflected in an example above, he was an emotionally suppressed boy with an [[WellDoneSonGuy emotionally distant, strict father]] and a doting mother. The two parents divorced, but the effects of such a childhood scarred him for life. He was encouraged to only wear conservative clothing and be a banker, and was discouraged from pursuing a career in rock and roll. Elton was shy, overweight, gap-toothed, played the relatively unhip instrument of piano, wore glasses (he didn't need them at first, but he idolized BuddyHolly and wanted to wear glasses like Buddy, to the point that it damaged his vision) and was [[AmbiguouslyGay struggling with his homosexuality]]. Because of this, when he took on the "Elton" persona, he wore increasingly [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes flamboyant clothing]] and [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself glasses]] and acted outrageously, [[FreudianExcuse partly as a riposte to what his dad wanted him to be]], and to hide his insecurities. He took [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll cocaine, marijuana and alcohol]] to feel a part of the scene and open up, and because it felt good to him at first. Later, the drugs, alcohol, depression, promiscuity and bulimia caught up with him and nearly killed him. He enjoyed the celebrity, but could not cope with life away from celebrity, and often his being busy with albums and touring would, by WordOfGod, keep him from overdosing in his room alone and dying young. He cleaned up by the end of TheEighties and got his life back on track.

* An episode of ''{{Black Books}}'' has Bernard and Manny writing the worlds greatest children's book, which initially ends up being a quite good adult book and then rewritten as a somewhat average children's book. They eventually burn it while drunk due to the fact they can't handle the fame it will no doubt bring them. When they sober up, they can't remember what the book was about or why they burned it.

* Explored in CSIMiami's episode of ''Cyber-lebrity'' in which an average swimmer ended up becoming a web celebrity as a result of a photo of her and now she had all these cyber stalkers who updates her location wherever she is. She ended up getting threatened for her life as a result of all this. She was thankful when people stopped stalking her.

* By the second half of ''DannyPhantom'', Danny himself is a known celebrity across America. One episode proved Danny takes this trope to heart when he couldn't stand the constant fans chasing/berating him. He muses that he prefers the privacy and peacefulness as Danny Fenton whenever he doesn't have to don his alter ego. [[CharacterDevelopment A huge upgrade]] from the boy who wanted popularity so badly in his earlier heydays.
* An episode of ''TheFairlyOddparents'' had Timmy finding out he was the subject of a reality show in Fairy World. Now that he was a star, his life became the result of ExecutiveMeddling by the show's producer, Simon, causing him to lose his mother, his friends, and nearly his godparents.
* ''SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "The Two Faces Of Squidward" the titular cephalopod first enjoys the attentions of everyone anxious to gaze at his new David-esque looks, but soon their excess devotion has him begging for his old face back.

* Yang Wen-li from ''LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' refused to capitalise on his new-found fame as "Hero of El Facil"[[hottip:*: where he successfully evacuated 3 million civilians from a planet that faced an Imperial invasion]] and allowed himself to lapse into (relative) obscurity. Eight years later, after he became a national hero again by successfully capturing the strategically vital Iserlohn Fortress[[hottip:*: using only half a fleet and succeeding where his predecessors had failed with much larger forces for six times]], he again did nothing about his fame and even contemplated retiring because he hoped capturing the fortress will create favourable conditions to conclude a peace treaty and end the war.

* Lily Allen's "The Fear" is about a girl who desperately craves fame and the materialistic lifestyle it results in, only to feel ambivalent and empty when she actually achieves it.

* ''{{Faust}}'' makes this trope OlderThanRadio.

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* In one interview, David Duchovny and the host were discussing that actors would very much like to be athletes or rock stars, musicians would love to be athletes or actors and sportsmen would prefer to be actors or musicians.

* [[Literature/HarryPotter The Boy Who Lived]] doesn't particularly enjoy being famous for something he can't even ''remember''. He doesn't mind being praised for his Quidditch skills, however.
** It more a fact of being praised for something you earned vs. being famous for something you not only don't remember, but killed your parents and got you sent to your border-line abusive Aunt and Uncle. In that case, hating fame is pretty justified.