Red Carpet Fever
Are you celebrity obsessed?
by Margaret Sagarese and Charlene Giannetti
TWEENS & TEENS News September
2006
Do you gossip about Paris and Nicole’s
rivalry? Can you chat for hours about what
Lindsay and Jessica wore on the red carpet,
as if these celebrities went to your school?
Are you determined to wear the designer clothes
and accessories of fashionistas such as Misha
Barton? When it comes to planning that upcoming
bar or bat mitzvah or sweet 16, is your vision
over the top? Maybe you’re dreaming
of a grand entrance like those lavish girls
on MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 who party
like young Hollywood royalty. If you identify
with most of these questions, you (and your
closest tween and teen friends) could be experiencing
the latest epidemic: red carpet fever.
The symptoms of red carpet fever include an
obsession with fame, high fashion, celebrities
and shallow values like looking super skinny—
all the things glorified on that seemingly
eternal red carpet. Once upon a time, star
watching equated to a mindless and occasional
guilty pleasure. Now, there are more red carpet
events than ever before, with constant award
shows such as the Oscars, Golden Globes, People’s
Choice, Grammys (in Latin, too) Country Music
Association and premieres for pretty much
every movie made. Even Nickelodeon’s
Kids’ Choice Awards boasts a carpet,
although it’s known as the orange carpet.
The stars, their outfits and melodramas blare
24/7 from entertainment TV, magazines and
tabloids. It’s no wonder that kids are
overdosing on the rich and famous lifestyles
of Britney, J-Lo and the Olsen twins. Marketers
cram the party dresses, perfumes and shoes,
as well as the party mentality of celebrities
into kids’ consciousness until kids
are brainwashed. The consequences merit your
(and your parents’) attention, because
red carpet fever can lead to a preoccupation
with materialism and fame.
Don’t think your fascination with who
makes the covers of the fashion magazines
and who is torn to shreds in the tabloids
is serious? Consequences of red carpet fever
can range from overspending and credit card
debt to skewed body images and risky behaviors.
Beyond taking your focus away from family
values, school life and just the plain old
fun of being an average kid, red carpet fever
can encourage inappropriate goals and expectations.
How can you compete with aggressive marketing
campaigns to promote a paparazzi-fueled celebrity
culture? It may not be easy to turn off the
influence of the red carpet vixens and vamps,
but you need to try. It’s time for you
to launch a counter-offensive and fight back.
Here are a few strategies.
The Fame Game
Fame has become a career aspiration. Many
red carpet regulars become household names
without actually doing anything to merit the
accolades— except partying or being
born into a wealthy family. Paris Hilton serves
as the poster girl for mindless and meaningless
fame. Nicole Richie also has pedigree but
no portfolio aside from reality TV.
Don’t forget that the tweenage equivalent
of fame is popularity. Nearly all young adolescents
crave acceptance and admiration by their peers.
So particularly at this point in your development,
you need to put fame into perspective, and
that means you need to realize that fame should
be earned. While you and your friends dish
about whether or not Paris deserves her spotlight,
stop and think about the popularity of your
classmates.
Ask your friends (and hopefully your parents,
also): What makes a girl popular? A boy? Think
about the fact that sports fuel a boy’s
status; appearances (looks and clothes) drive
a girl’s popularity. Why do certain
kids attract attention? Is it fair? Debate
whether or not it is deserved. Discuss what
should make a person worthy of prestige. Don’t
forget the value of integrity, kindness and
achievement.
Clothes: Making the Growing Gal and Breaking
the Bank
Versace dresses, Kate Spade handbags and Jimmy
Choo shoes exceed the allowance of most tweens
and teens, but that doesn’t stop kids
today from wanting what they see on TV or
potentially racking up premature credit card
debt to get expensive items. And what about
all that blinding “bling bling”
in music videos? Few real kids can afford
the gold jewelry and diamonds of rap artists
and their entourage. But, girls and boys continue
to desire personal bling.
Adolescents must realize that celebrities
get almost all their clothes and jewels for
free. The red carpet is like a giant product
placement commercial. Stars like Jessica Simpson
and Beyonce serve as walking advertisements
for their clothing lines or the fashion products
of other designers. The purpose of all this
is to convince you young people to buy high-profile
designs. Marketers know that kids today can
typically get their hands on cash. According
to Teenage Research Unlimited, in 2005, 12
to 19 year olds were projected to spend $159
billion, a 30 percent increase from 1997.
All it takes is one over-indulgent teen to
hit Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the Miracle
Mile in Manhassat or QVC on the Internet,
and then all the other girls spend top dollar
(or pester their parents to do likewise).
Share with your friends that stars play dress
up without paying the price tags. Also, cultivate
sensible shopping decisions by considering
your allowance— or if you don’t
have an allowance, what a standard allowance
for an adolescent should be. Could the average
kid afford a drawer of clothes in Lindsay
Lohan’s wardrobe? No. If you have a
clothing allowance, explore your freedom of
choice. Most likely, you can spend your entire
allowance on a pricey item (or not). Aside
from flexing your decision-making muscles,
spending (or saving) your allowance teaches
the value of the dollar and how it needs to
be stretched to acquire different possessions.
Main Street is Not Hollywood Boulevard
Recently, a New York City club offered a package
called “Hollywood Preview,” which
enabled teens to be stars for a night, complete
with limousines and grand entrances to the
shouts of hired screaming fans. If you watch
MTV’s My Super Sweet 16, you see the
teens featured become princes and princesses
for a day. Young women on the show act like
mini-Paris or Nicoles. Primping, posing and
posturing to become the most popular kids
in school becomes the goal of the parties.
When you really think about it, how shallow
is that?! What happened to fun being the point
of parties for hosts and their guests?
Next time you’re planning a birthday,
graduation, bar or bat mitzvah or other special
celebration, talk with your parents about
the purpose of the party. What would you like
your social event to mean for your guests?
The joys of celebrating, fun, entertainment,
music and the chance to share good times with
friends are fine intentions. Flouting good
fortune in order to make others feel jealous
is not an acceptable motive. Realize the difference.
When it comes to photos, accept that photographs
are meant to capture an event, and not to
serve as an egomaniacal photo shoot.
Most of us are not going to make the cover
of Teen People magazine or the prize shot
on red carpet on the way to grab our Oscar.
That’s good news in a way. There will
be no embarrassing tabloid pictures, no paparazzi
cutting us off on the highway nor school kids
dissecting our every move, despite how it
sometimes feels that way. Curing red carpet
fever is easier than dealing with all the
issues that plague celebrity status.
Margaret Sagarese and Charlene Giannetti
are coauthors of Boy Crazy! Keeping Your Daughter’s
Feet on the Ground When Her Head Is in the
Clouds (Broadway Books), which is on sale
now.
