[MomsAVoxell]

I’ve known many pop stars (have worked in the pro audio industry for decades) and one thing that is common among them is that they are very interesting people. Very rarely interested - mostly involved in being interesting.

I think there has to be a balance, personally. If you spend your life trying to be as interesting as possible, it gets very spiritually depleting. If you do take an honest interest in others, though, the pop-star factor gets multiplied.

So many times I’ve seen fans congregate around a star, struck as they were, to be regaled with that stars new interesting thing, or entertaining acts. Sure, they walk away with the experience. But, whenever the pop star turns it around and takes more of an interest in the other person - wow! The fan factor multiplies significantly. (Incidentally, this works not just for pop stars but also anyone at all, actually.)

That said, I don’t think being a pop star is a particularly healthy activity. The exhaustion levels once the green room door is closed are pretty obvious, and the means of healing from weeks, or months and months of continuous, daily, “being interesting” takes a huge toll.

The pop stars I’ve known, intimately, who have a strong family that just treat them like regular people, are usually the healthiest. The few stars I consider friends, as in we could call each other just to hang out and chat now and then, are really the ones who find this balance early in their life.

I also have a somewhat famous actress in my family, and she is an extremely tiring person to be around, even though she has millions of adoring fans, because there is a continual vibe of being as interesting as possible, no matter the circumstances, and this is exhausting for those of us who live with her on a regular basis. Inter-family gossip always takes note of her attention levels.

[NaomiLehman]

I would guess that the balance is difficult for regular people and impossible for famous people.

[MomsAVoxell]

It's not impossible - it just requires attention and is a part of the responsibilities of the job, in my opinion.

But even regular people try too hard to be interesting sometimes. Attention is a currency in our culture; its too often traded poorly.

[NaomiLehman]

I don't know what the famous people are actually feeling and struggling with. I don't know how much of what they are saying is an act and how much is real.

2025 example: Chappell Roan - I have no idea if she is genuine or is this a very cleverly manufactured brand. Outbursts at fans, bipolar disorder, anxiety, etc.

[MomsAVoxell]

Culture is as culture does. I dare say that the in-group for any star has their buttons - whether the conditions to push those buttons are legitimate or otherwise, would Chappell Roan be on your mind if she wasn't pushing your buttons? Marketing people know this mechanism all too well; it is a large factor for why we have billion-dollar tabloid machines.

Needless to say, the pop industry is all about creating a facsimile of a thing, if not the thing itself. You're not buying bread from these stars - you're buying a picture of life.