By Sophie Zhang

陶曉 注

There is something very voyeuristic[1] about our society.

I wish I could spin[2] that into something positive, but I can’t. Unfortunately, we are the generation that takes a special, perhaps twisted pleasure in delving into other people’s private lives, thus giving birth to occupations such as paparazzi and gossip blogger.[3] Why is that we somewhere, embedded in our psyche,[4] is the tendency to wonder about celebrities, stars, and even our friends? Facebook and Twitter aren’t just ways of reconnecting with your long lost classmates.[5] Facebook, quite obviously, is about seeing what other people are doing, seeing who other people are dating, seeing what parties other people have gone to. Is this a normal fascination[6] or are we heading down a dangerous path?

Let’s examine the impact of our behavior. The easiest case would probably be a celebrity, so let’s take one of the most high profile[7] cases in recent history—Miss Britney Spears. Almost everyone on the planet knows who Britney Spears is—her one name status is evidence of her superstar standing. Britney. Instantly recognizable, just like MJ and Madonna and Cher.[8] The woman may not be the most talented vocal singer that we know of, but she is the very definition of “star.” After all, we aren’t particularly curious about Celine Dion’s[9] life, but Britney? We want to know everything. Britney going to the supermarket is news. Britney sitting on the beach is news. Britney drinking a Red Bull[10]? News. It’s a wonder she hadn’t cracked earlier.[11] We all remember her notorious breakdown in 2007. All of a sudden, she seemed to go nuts—infamously shaving off her long, beautiful locks for a crass bald head; attacking a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella; dating a paparazzo herself; donning bright pink wigs outside; sitting her son in the front seat of her car.[12] The list goes on and on. Suddenly, the world unanimously[13] went: what happened to Britney?

We’ll never know what really happened to her. But based on her gratuitous swearing, public tantrums, and snarling, Britney just didn’t care anymore.[14] She wanted the world to see what it had done to her. It had turned a beautiful, promising young girl into a disgusting, disheveled mess.[15] She was tired of constantly being hounded by others, working under immense pressure, constantly being under the spotlight.[16] For once in her life, she wanted to do whatever she want.

Now Britney seems to be fine—though we all know that she has lost her original fire and spark that initially launched her to superstardom.[17] In the documentary filmed after her breakdown, she stated that her life was worse than a prison. In prison, at least you know you will someday get out. In contrast, she can never escape the pressure and boundaries that the world has unknowingly imposed on her life. But it seems like we haven’t learned. We talk about human compassion and empathy, yet we continue to use these people as our puppets.[18] We scoff at superstars who use drugs and alcohol to self-medicate.[19] But we never stopped to wonder what they were self-medicating. We never stopped to realize that we were the ones causing them to spiral downwards[20]. We are at fault[21]. We, collectively, have ruined the lives of many individuals whose only fault was the desire to entertain the world. Stars who were blessed with good looks and maybe a smidge[22] of acting or singing talent. We have destroyed them.

Poor Michael Jackson. Poor Britney Spears. Poor Drew Barrymore[23]. Poor Lindsay Lohan[24]. We seem to think that it’s okay to punish them because they are rich and talented. The fact is, why should we punish anyone? We’re responsible for their success, so why are we making them suffer? Perhaps it’s jealousy that stems from[25] deep within. Perhaps it’s jealousy that makes our curiosity insatiable[26]. Either way, we have ruined them. And they will never recover.

And it looks like we will never learn. The rise of social media has not only invited us to the personal lives of celebrities, but also the personal lives of our friends and family. We’ve seen celebrities fall under the blinding spotlight we put them under. Now we have directed that spotlight to our loved ones. Society is already on the path of superficiality[27]. Someday, that superficiality will destroy us. We have become the generation of falling stars.

Vocabulary

1. voyeuristic: 喜歡窺探別人隱私的。

2. spin: 杜撰，編造。

3. 不幸的是，我們這代人喜歡探究他人的隱私生活，這種特別而又扭曲的喜好使得狗仔隊和流言蜚語博客一類的新職業應運而生。delve into: 探索；paparazzi: （paparazzo的復數）狗仔隊；gossip blogger: 流言蜚語博客。

4. embed: 把……嵌入，使深留腦中；psyche: 靈魂，心靈。

5. facebook: 臉譜網，知名社交網站；twitter: 推特網，著名社交網絡和微博客服務的網站。

6. fascination: 入迷，著迷。

7. high profile: 高調的，引人注目的，受媒體關注的。

8. MJ: 邁克爾?杰克遜，美國已逝流行音樂之王；Madonna: 麥當娜，美國流行天后；Cher: 雪兒，美國女歌手、演員。

9. Celine Dion: 席琳?迪翁，加拿大流行女歌手，代表作有《我心永恒》（My Heart Will Go On）等。

10. Red Bull: 紅牛，全球著名的能量飲料品牌，1966年誕生于泰國，引入歐洲后開始正式使用英文品牌“Red Bull”。

11. 如此壓力之下，她之前沒有垮掉真是個奇跡。crack: 垮掉，吃不消。

12. 突然之間，她似乎就變瘋了——剃掉她漂亮的長發，剪了個光頭，此事吵得紛紛揚揚；拿一把雨傘打一個狗仔隊攝影師的車子；和狗仔約會；出門時戴著亮粉色的假發；還把兒子放在車子的前座上。go nuts: 發瘋；don: 戴上。

13. unanimously: 一致地。

14. gratuitous: 無理由的；tantrum: 發脾氣；snarl: 咆哮。

15. promising: 有前途的，有希望的；dishevel: 使蓬亂，使頭發凌亂，使衣服弄皺。

16. hound: 追逼，煩擾；immense: 極大的，巨大的；spotlight: 聚光燈，公眾關注中心。

17. 現在布蘭妮似乎情況還不錯——盡管我們都看得出來昔日使得她迅速成為超級明星的激情和活力已不復存在。fire: 激情；spark: 生氣，活力。

18. compassion: 同情，憐憫；empathy: 同感，共鳴；puppet: 木偶，受人操縱的人。

19. scoff at: 嘲弄，譏笑；self-medicate: 自我藥療。

20. spiral: 螺旋式的上升或下降；spiral downwards: 此處意為“迅速墮落”。

21. at fault: 有過錯，有責任。

22. smidge: 一點點（口語，亦作smidgeon, smidgen, smidgin）。

23. Drew Barrymore: 德魯?巴里摩爾，美國好萊塢演員，童星出身。太快成名令她備感壓力，11歲就開始飲酒，12歲吸煙和吸食大麻，13歲開始嘗試可卡因。

24. Lindsay Lohan: 林賽?羅韓，美國女演員，以其喜劇成名。年少成名的林賽?羅韓酗酒、吸毒、酒醉駕駛，負面新聞不斷。

25. stem from: 起源于，來自。

26. insatiable: 無法滿足的，貪得無厭的。

27. superficiality: 膚淺，淺薄。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：陳丹妮）