History Main / HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight

Compare NiceCharacterMeanActor, TheLastDJ, ClassicallyTrainedExtra, IWasYoungAndNeededTheMoney, JadedWashout, ThePrimaDonna, FameThroughInfamy (when you may not like doing something infamous in and of itself, but you like the "limelight" it gives), NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, WhiteDwarfStarlet, FormerChildStar, {{Japandering}}.

* ''VideoGame/NoStraightRoads'': DJ Subatomic Supernova downplays this trope. While he clearly enjoys being the center of attention, he doesn't hate making music (it's ''his'' music, after all). However, the reason he signed on with NSR was to further inflate his oversized head. [[{{Irony}} This coming from the guy who's moniker has the word "subatomic" in it]] [[SmallNameBigEgo and who's at the bottom of NSR's Top 5 Megastars list]].

* While Music/JasonDonovan was uncomfortable with being a late 80's-early 90's heartthrob pop singer, he still looks back at it fondly and enjoys the publicity his singing career gave him.

Compare NiceCharacterMeanActor, TheLastDJ, ClassicallyTrainedExtra, IWasYoungAndNeededTheMoney, JadedWashout, FameThroughInfamy (when you may not like doing something infamous in and of itself, but you like the "limelight" it gives), NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, WhiteDwarfStarlet, FormerChildStar, {{Japandering}}.

* There's a very old joke about a man who walks into a bar smelling of filth. He complains to the bartender that he hates his job, cleaning up after the elephants in the circus. He shovels elephant droppings all day long and can't get the smell off of himself no matter how he tries. The bartender asks why he doesn't just quit his job. The man looks back, unbelieving, "And quit show business?!"

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} book ''Discworld/SoulMusic'', when a band shows major promise and is recruited by Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler, he appoints a somewhat flattened (and smelly) troll named Asphault to carry their equipment. In homage to the joke, he cleaned up after elephants, but they often sat on him. When asked why he didn't leave, Asphault said: "Show business is in me soul."

* Nom Nom the Koala from ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'' loves the money and fame that comes from being a viral video star, but hates dealing with his fans (especially the Bears).

* Akira in the ''[[ShowWithinAShow Lucky Channel]]'' segments of ''Anime/LuckyStar'', much to the chagrin of Shiraishi. The funny thing is she's not that old (she's fourteen), but started out as a child star (at three years old!) and has to keep up a {{Kawaiiko}} act.

** The same mostly holds true (except for the "being a huge bitch" part) for Wrestling/StacyKeibler, who has made it no secret she never cared for the business and considered it nothing more than "a steppingstone" to get to Hollywood to launch her acting career. Supposedly, she erased all traces of WWE and WCW from the bio on her website when she got there and, save for one-shot appearances on Tough Enough and inducting her friend, Wrestling/TorrieWilson, into the WWE Hall Of Fame, has had nothing to do with the wrestling business since.

* Famously averted by Clayton Moore, Franchise/TheLoneRanger (he loved the role so much his autobiography is called ''I Was That Masked Man'').

He's been in the business for years, and has become absolutely jaded (especially if he started out as a WideEyedIdealist). And he's not going to let anyone forget it. The things that come out of his mouth would never make it on the air in RealLife... unless, that is, he were [[IsThisThingStillOn unaware that the microphone was still on]].

* In episode 10 of ''LightNovel/{{Oreimo}}'', Kanako Kurusu, one of Kirino's school friends, is tricked by Ayase, another of Kirino's friends, into a cosplay contest, where she wears a [[ShowWithinAShow Meruru costume that makes her look exactly like the character]]. Although offstage she gripes about it, while she's performing on the stage, she seems to give herself entirely to the act as she sings and wows the audience. Kanako does such an excellent job that Kirino, who was in the audience, doesn't recognize that its her friend cosplaying as Meruru.

* In ''Manga/SakiShinohayuDawnOfAge'', Kanna Ishitobi hates mahong, as [[LuckBasedMission a game seemingly based solely on luck]]. The reason she plays it, though, is so that she can defeat Hayari Mizuhara- the one person who has ever defeated her at a game.

* Loony Leo from the comic book ''Comicbook/AstroCity'' is a strange example. He's a cartoon lion that was accidentally brought to life in the real world. He's spent his time as a "live-action" actor, a penniless vagabond, a supervillain, and was involved in the scandalous death of a 14-year-old girl by drug overdose, before he eventually leaves everything behind and settles down as the host of a novelty restaurant. After telling his whole depressing life story to a young executive who wanted to recruit him for a few local commercials, he scolds the kid for thinking he'd want to return to the spotlight after all he's been through. Then, at the last second, he changes his mind.

* In the film ''Film/TheAristocrats'', many of the interviewed comedians argue that this is the essence of TheAristocrats joke, since it's about a family that will sink to any depravity to be part of the glamour of showbiz. Sarah Silverman's version of the joke in particular runs thick with this trope.
* Margo from ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'' confides to protagonist Alex that she used to be so proud to be a pole dancer at Mawby's, and would routinely buy glamorous outfits for that purpose. As time went on, however, Margo stopped buying fancy outfits, and continues at Mawby's as a workaday job. This adds one more reason for Alex to audition at the Pittsburgh Repertoire Conservatory, rather than "pissing it all away."

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} book ''Discworld/SoulMusic'', when a band shows major promise, and is recruited by Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler, he appoints a somewhat flattened (and smelly) troll named Asphault to carry their equipment. In homage to the joke, he cleaned up after elephants, but they often sat on him. When asked why he didn't leave, Asphault said "Show business is in me soul."

** Krusty the Klown, who stage name is a hint at this. How much it actually applies to him varies DependingOnTheWriter. Sometimes he's depicted as a hack who's just in it for the money, at other times he laments the crappy material he has to work with. In one episode, he claimed that he'd need a "shoebox full of blow" to go through with producing a particular sketch. "The Last Temptation Of Krust" plays with both aspects: after noticing his humor is out of step with modern comedy, he quits his job and reinvents himself as an anti-establishment stand-up comedian with great success. Then he accepts a huge endorsement from [[HummerDinger Canyonero SUVs]] which causes his new career to tank and him to go back to his old job, which he doesn't mind since he realized his ''true'' talent was never comedy, but selling out.

** This trope is also the ultimate reason for Sideshow Bob's descent from TV sidekick to homicidal maniac. Bob originally accepted Krusty's offer to be his sidekick because he thought he could both entertain and enlighten the children who would be watching, but [[ClassicallyTrainedExtra his talents were utterly wasted]] by the lowbrow shenanigans Krusty subjected him to, which in Bob's own words "destroyed more young minds than pinball and syphilis combined!" Finally, Bob snapped and framed Krusty for armed robbery, taking over the show after Krusty was arrested. He immediately turned it into the kind of show ''he'' originally wanted to do, one that was educational, entertaining and uplifting all at once. And then Bart Simpson pegged him as the guy who framed Krusty and he went to jail. Suffice to say that it got worse from there.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': Miss Carol, host of a ShowWithinAShow in the episode "Word of the Day", secretly hates kids and is only in it for the money. HilarityEnsues when Angelica overhears her and assumes [[SoundEffectBleep the more vulgar version]] of her TV catch phrase was the real one.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}'' involved a case with a rather over obsessive fan of a book series. After Filmore and Ingrid crack the case and clear up the matter. Said fan meets the author of the series..who had planned to kill off her character because, unlike her fans, she just saw her book series as nothing more then a job and source of income rather than for any genuine passion, likewise thinking her fans (who are grade school kids mind you) are a bit to wrapped in the series for her taste. Said fan calls her out for her callousness.

* An extremely disturbing example occurred with UsefulNotes/OJSimpson, crossing over with WhiteDwarfStarlet, after his legal and civil trials from 1994-1997. After a successful pro football career in the early 1970s, Simpson went on to be the spokesperson for Hertz rental cars, and from there he had a decently successful acting career through the 1980s - one of the first big examples of a pro-sports figure successfully adapting his fame into commercial success as a spokesperson/actor. He lived in upscale Brentwood, California, and regularly played golf with all of the upscale citizens of the community, including famous actors, judges, etc. Overall, he was held up as a major example of a respected and successful former pro-footballer who had settled into a comfortable life of fame. However, the nation-wide scandal of his double-murder trial (in 1994) and then civil trial (in 1997), utterly ruined his public persona. He lost all of his money in the civil suit, including his Brentwood home of 20 years, and had pariah status in the national eye. People who knew Simpson, however, said that he'd spent his whole life since high school being treated as special, because of his athletic talents - a major example of celebrity culture in America, he was never treated as if the rules applied to him. ''Whether or not'' you think Simpson was actually guilty, he was so utterly addicted to his celebrity status that after the trials, he couldn't really mentally process that he wasn't part of the limelight anymore. In the early 2000's, Simpson totally deteriorated, with no limits to how far he would debase himself just to be in the limelight again. This culminated in 2006 when he released a ''prank-based reality TV show'', "Juiced", consisting of him making practical jokes on unwitting bystanders with hidden cameras. It was a ripoff of shows like 2003's "Punk'd"...starring ''O.J. Simpson'' (if you want to look up clips of "Juiced", brace yourself to see just how far someone can abandon his ''last shreds of human dignity'' out of an addiction to fame). Even his close remaining friends desperately tried to convince him that he was only humiliating himself, as well as his children. Problem is...Simpson had fallen so low that he genuinely didn't seem to care - it didn't matter what he was doing, so long as the cameras were pointed at him and people were talking about him.

* In VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}, the Ultimate Baseball Star Leon Kuwata exemplifies beat-for-beat version of this trope, translated into playing sports rather than creating or performing art. Leon does enjoy playing baseball at heart, and he loves the attention, female fans, and the free-ride scholarship that baseball has given him. He just hates and resents having to do it constantly, until all the joy is gone and only the drudgery of endless pointless practice and games is left. [[BrilliantButLazy The fact that he's a lazy bum at heart and so stupidly talented that he doesn't find much challenge in the game or see why anyone would need to practice at it doesn't help]].

* An extremely disturbing example occurred with O.J. Simpson, crossing over with WhiteDwarfStarlet, after his legal and civil trials from 1994-1997. After a successful pro footbal career in the early 1970s, Simpson went on to be the spokesperson for Hertz rental cars, and from there he had a decently successful acting career through the 1980s - one of the first big examples of a pro-sports figure successfully adapting his fame into commercial success as a spokesperson/actor. He lived in upscale Brentwood, California, and regularly played golf with all of the upscale citizens of the community, including famous actors, judges, etc. Overall, he was held up as a major example of a respected and successful former pro-footballer who had settled into a comfortable life of fame. However, the nation-wide scandal of his double-murder trial (in 1994) and then civil trial (in 1997), utterly ruined his public persona. He lost all of his money in the civil suit, including his Brentwood home of 20 years, and had pariah status in the national eye. People who knew Simpson, however, said that he'd spent his whole life since high school being treated as special, because of his athletic talents - a major example of celebrity culture in America, he was never treated as if the rules applied to him. ''Whether or not'' you think Simpson was actually guilty, he was so utterly addicted to his celebrity status that after the trials, he couldn't really mentally process that he wasn't part of the limelight anymore. In the early 2000's, Simpson totally deteriorated, with no limits to how far he would debase himself just to be in the limelight again. This culminated in 2006 when he released a ''prank-based reality TV show'', "Juiced", consisting of him making practical jokes on unwitting bystanders with hidden cameras. It was a ripoff of shows like 2003's "Punk'd"...starring ''O.J. Simpson'' (if you want to look up clips of "Juiced", brace yourself to see just how far someone can abandon his ''last shreds of human dignity'' out of an addiction to fame). Even his close remaining friends desperately tried to convince him that he was only humiliating himself, as well as his children. Problem is...Simpson had fallen so low that he genuinely didn't seem to care - it didn't matter what he was doing, so long as the cameras were pointed at him and people were talking about him.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Filmore}}'' involved a case with a rather over obsessive fan of a book series. After Filmore and Ingrid crack the case and clear up the matter. Said fan meets the author of the series..who had planned to kill off her character because, unlike her fans, she just saw her book series as nothing more then a job and source of income rather than for any genuine passion, likewise thinking her fans (who are grade school kids mind you) are a bit to wrapped in the series for her taste. Said fan calls her out for her callousness.

* Music/TomLehrer was and is an inversion, while he loved doiung music and comedy, he was aggressively indifferent to his celebrity status. The best example is how he kept all his master tapes in a shoebox in his attic, and later gave the tapes to a fan on a whim.

* Politicians can fall into this, where they have little interest in accomplishing policy changes, but stay in their positions because they love the attention. Among US Presidents, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan are strong examples.

* ''{{MASH}}'': Major Charles Emerson Winchester, who was sent to the 4077th by a Colonel whom he always bested at cribbage. While nobody liked being in the southeast Asian theater, Charles detested it but was an admitted showoff at the operating table. Hawkeye dresses him down once, telling Charles that "without an audience, a patient means nothing to you."

* Miss Carol from an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' behaved like this and Angelica thought her more vulgar version of her TV catch phrase was the real one.