What if Any Ethical Standards Can Be Expected From Celebrities – Ethics Essay
“Pop singers and film stars have a duty to act as responsible role models for the young people who pay to listen to their music and see their films” Discuss (350 words).
The word “model”, in interpersonal relationships, can be defined as the position of a person whose behavior, habits or attitudes are imitated by other people. In fact, every person in our society –especially younger people- tend to absorb and adapt for their lives many images received through the mass media, as this is a sort of shortcut, an easier way than setting up their own way of act or living.
As mass media is currently the most powerful information channel, the media protagonists –namely film or TV stars and pop singers- are frequently considered as “models” by the media recipients. However, this is not –or should not be- their main function. Actors and singers are supposed to be artists and consequently they are paid exclusively for producing art works.
On the other side, young people, who are the principal consumers of artistic products of actors and singers, should not need external models. In a ideal environment, children and teenagers would be primarily influenced by their parents so as to reach adulthood with personalities almost defined. But we do not live in a perfect world and nowadays it is demonstrated that parents are loosing their specific model role inside the family (in the cases which a family exists). Such a lack of image to trust on implies a research of outsider’s models. And that is why young people transform admiration of pop singer and TV and cinema stars into worship.
Not only have artists the duty to act responsibly as part of the society but also every one of us. There is no monetary motivation for seeking this attitude. In other words, it is not matter whether people pay for the music or the films to ask performers for a responsible behavior. But indeed, the role of models that usually “showbiz” members have –consciously or not so much- assumed compels them to take a lot of care about their interpersonal conduct, although we have stated above that they are not there to serve as a model and of course they are not paid for that kind of job.
In conclusion, we must be aware about this phenomenon in order to protect our young people from mistaken models that may result in future damages for them and for their offspring, paying also much attention to not limiting the other’s natural right of expressing freely.