Being extremely famous

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I know someone who's somewhat famous who's one of the rare people where I actually understand his thinking. But he's far from "extremely famous" so whatever understanding I have of him doesn't give me any insite in what it's like to be extremely famous.

MR, has it affected this person's personality?

I am beginning to get famous. I am a wildlife/pet/marine artist. I put them on different items including fine art cards (our most popular), prints, t-shirts, tote bags and other items. In the next year, I am going to be in several magazines and published in at least one book. My stuff is selling in around 20 stores including zoos, casinos, pet stores, galleries and more. Even other vendors at shows wants to sell our stuff because it is just that good. Two separate people want me to illustrate their books. I am also going to be a professional speaker and maybe one day travel the world with my story. It is so inspiring and I want to help people with disabilities. I already spoke once at my business showcase and I moved people to tears and they applauded 3 times in just in 2 and a half minutes. I was the only one that had that there. Everyone says that my business has the potential of making millions of dollars. To make things better, we have very good contacts and one is in New York (I live in Washington state). She has already got me into an art auction next year and several galleries wants to sell my prints. Last year she has also gotten autistic people to speak at the UN and she is keeping me in mind for next year for World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd. Imagine me at the UN speaking! I also want to speak at autism conferences, mental health conferences, and at schools to inspire hope into the minds of disabled people that anything is possible. Just because you have a nasty label on your head, shouldn't stop you from pursuing your dreams. The first magazine I am going to be in is Dog Fancy. You are probably wondering why am I going to be in a dog magazine for my art. Well, I got a dog and she helped me get "out" of autism or the way I used to be. Art has helped me even more. This is how I connect to the world is through animals. Right now I am not "extremely famous" but that day will come in the future. I am just a little famous.

I think it's a cage with golden bars. a freak show. they're still just people like everyone but it can lead to a kind of narcissism or bubble life. the thing that's weird for famous people is how others react to them, or overreact to them. you would spend your whole life dealng with overreactions and curiosity, no wonder they end up only mixing with their own kind, that way they don't have to deal with the overawed public.

Entertainment. And I really couldn't say, sorry. He did say once that he cut people a lot more slack than he used to, because he'd seen so very many of them, all over the world. I didn't correspond with him before he was famous, only after.

Huh? Was that aimed at me?
I'd be in constant paranoia.



I used to work in restaurants, bars and live venues, all sorts of different jobs, usually it was bartending, I also didn't get to know anyone famous well enough, to say that much, except that I know the general clichè "They're all full of themselves" is not true.

Yeah, I don't do that much these days, not very aspie friendly...

Well, it's not like I know what he'd be like without that. I only know what he's like, not how he'd be different if he had a different life. Also, it's not like fame is it's own isolated thing, unconnected with anything else.

I think he's learned that family is more important than fame.

I personaly would LOVE to be philthy rich. I'll take your wealth if you don't want it. I could be free to have the HUGE house I've always wanted and get an indoor swimming pool. Forget a horse, I'd get me a zebra. I could get my own meerkat and all the permits I need for it and bribe the state into letting me have one. I could buy the copyrights to The Lion King and Titan A.E.. I would no longer have to worry about paying for college and vet school anymore. I could care less about fame but if it made me rich, hey who cares?

I deal with a lot of insanely wealthy people in the course of my job - and they're nearly all very grounded, very nice people who you wouldn't know had shed loadsa money if you spent a weekend hiking with them.

That said, the wives can often be pretty up themselves.

I think someone who is very famous must be the target of wild swings in public perception.
Let's say there's a famous person named "Selma." If Selma says something clever, it's all
over the media in a nanosecond and the public perceives Selma as being godlike -- the second
coming. Then Selma has a bad hair day, and every papparazzi wanna-be takes a cell phone
photo and emails it to their entire address book, and suddenly everyone Selma meets is
openly laughing in her face. Then the wind changes again, Selma did something good, and
people flock to her feet. Then Selma is overheard to say something, and every word is
examined for any possible hint of nuance or innuendo, and the meanings get grossly distorted.
People unhappy with their own lives resent Selma for her fame, and dream up an endless array
of mean tricks -- oh, you just bought organic lettuce? That goes in the bottom of the bag, under the
cans. Here, you go talk to Selma and get belligerent and get her upset, then I'll come up behind you
and stick a camera over your shoulder. Such fun.

If the famous person is rich, they can afford to buy a little distance from the public, have someone
do their shopping for them, hire a publicist to help minimize the bad perceptions and maintain the
good perceptions -- which keeps them on the plane of being godlike.

I think that the general public's attitude towards someone famous can be characterized as a
Borderline Personality Disorder. The public thinks that the famous person is either Jesus incarnate, or s**t.
There is no middle ground.