Great Expectations of the Celebrity Kind

Let's face it. Famous people are filth, aren't they? We hero-worship them, buy the merchandise they endorse, line their pockets and some people (see Tiger Woods' 'transgressions') even take their adoration of celebrity further and sleep with the buggers. Or get choked by them (see Ronnie Wood and young Russian lover). Yes, this past week has hopefully proved once and for all that famous people are a bunch of overpaid, egotistical maniacs. They seem to care little for the consequences of their actions (unless they get caught) and they have all the nasty failings we do, sometimes being even more exaggerated than your average Joe.

But they can still cheat on the wife, pass around 17 year old fans like sexual trophies and exhibit all manner of deviant behavior and we'll still fawn over them. It might take a while but as long as they have a wily PR team and don't 'do an OJ' or a 'Gary Glitter', we'll forgive them. After all, they're only human like the rest of us and it's their other talents that we admire them for. Basically, you can be a womanising (Clinton, Ashley Cole, Woods), woman beating (Tyson, Ronnie Wood) cretin but we'll view these flaws as quirks that merely re-affirm our shared humanity.

Of course, it's ridiculous to assume that those in the limelight are the moral bastions of society. Indeed, in their high pressure environments coupled with the sense of power they exude, they're probably more likely to fall foul of a multitude of sins. So why are we always so surprised when a figure we've awarded celebrity status is found to be less than perfect? We like to believe that somehow famous people, talented famous people at least, can provide the mythical role models we aspire to be whilst retaining a position of moral cleanliness.

The obvious truth is that celebrity indiscretions mirror those of the 'real world' and the great expectations we have, whilst perhaps being noble in intention, are unfeasible in practice. Not all celebrities and not all of us norms are doomed to indulge in the darker side of life though some of us will no doubt flirt with temptation and learn from those mistakes. The only difference is that if you're caught as a celebrity, the world will hear about it and you'll be pilloried in the public eye. It's time to remove the pedestal of celebrity values and concentrate on our own responsibilities and be less concerned with the misdemeanors of the rich and famous.