The making and unmaking of Iggy Azalea

I was thinking about this the other day. When I was a kid, my parents had adult contemporary celebrities just for them, in all aspects of entertainment. Billy Joel. Whitney Houston. Cosby. Rod Stewart. We don't have shit. Who are our lame celebrities?

 

I meant more the "recognized on the street" variety of fame. Of course if you make something, you want an audience for it. But I have no need or desire to have my face recognized. I've seen that sort of fame up close, and it's no fun. But someone like Iggy Azalea—and I don't know her, obviously, so this might be a totally unfair judgment—I feel as though she was driven to "be somebody." She wanted her music heard, I'm sure, but as a way to advance herself toward the life that she wanted. I suspect she wanted red carpets and flashbulbs.

I do not want. That's more what I meant. Writing is perfect for me. Audience without fame.

 

She had, as far as I know, one ubiquitous summer radio hit that made her the object of considerable backlash. She's probably more known for the hate than the song at this point. Which must be a mindfuck for her.

 

I was going to say that I feel like I'm talking about two subtly different things here. To write, you need to be a brand to keep writing. It's kind of a necessary evil. For someone like Azalea (assuming you have her pegged), the fame itself is the thing.

Reminds me of some of what you read about Kurt Cobain. He hated fame, but wanted his music to be heard. People think that's a contradiction, but it's not necessarily one.

 

Cintra Wilson in her very funny book "A Massive Swelling" posits that wanting to be famous shows that you already have a diseased mind so why are we surprised when celebrities do crazy/stupid shit. I'm kinda with her on that.

 

Yeah, I don't see the Cobain thing as a contradiction at all. I would like a lot of people to read (or soon see?) my stuff. I do not need a single one of them to say hi to me when I'm at the grocery store.

Audience versus fame, I think, is the distinction.

 

My 8-year-old already talks a lot about wanting to be a famous "YouTuber."

 

At 8 it's cool/cute. In adulthood not so much.

 

I am sure there are people who really love to act and want to be actors so badly because of their love for it. I feel bad for people like them that celebrity is part of the deal. But absolutely, there are people who just want to be famous, and they are fucked in the head.

 

The other day, I was waiting for the elevator at work. Doors open. Standing there is NFL Hall of Famer Dan Hampton. Like an idiot, my eyes get wide and say, "Hi!" in that way. (You know the way I'm talking about.)

It must happen to the guy 20 times a day, at least, for the last 30-plus years. And that's someone who wore a helmet over his face who is semi-famous in a single 80-mile circle of land around Soldier Field.

It has to get exhausting at times.

 

Have you ever noticed the way people freak out if you're "on TV"?

I wrote 160-plus columns a year, probably, on the sports front. Blood, sweat, and tears put into them. Then one weekday I was on the WGN afternoon news for three minutes, promoting a book, and had like 10 people text or email me: "Why didn't you tell me you were going to be on TV?!!!!!"

 

There are so many people making a good living as actors that nobody would recognize on the street. They do stage work.