Is The Glamorous World All It's Cracked Up To Be?

     Entertainment is such a big part of everyday life.  It is everywhere, it's unescapable.  To the average person, being in the entertainment business seems like such a glamorous job.  All of the press, getting to wear all designer everything, going to events, and having all the attention on you.  However, is the entertainment business everything it is cracked up to be?  Through "How Does Stephen Colbert Work?" a podcast from slate.com, "Jill Torrance," "Rip Torn," and "Hots Michaels" from Studs Terkel's Working, we are given an inside to what it is like being in the entertainment business.

     Personally, I think being in the entertainment business is subject and personal to each individual.  Jill Torrance is a model.  She grew up in a small town and her original plan was not to be a model.  She had planned to go to college but had only saved three hundred dollars.  So when the opportunity arose, she went to New York City at eighteen.  Upon arriving to New York, she had never worn any make-up besides lipstick and had never walked in heels.  She has come a long way from that.  Now, Torrance is a successful model earning the cities top rate, fifty dollars an hour.  But, does success equal happiness in the entertainment world?  Although Torrance is successful, she doesn't seem happy with her job.  She says, "I feel guilty because I think people should be doing something they really like to do in life.  I should do something else, but there is nothing I can do really well" (54).  In this quote, she reveals that modeling is not her passion.  And because she never went to college, she can't get a "real job."  She feels that she can't do anything else well.  Because she is good at modeling and she makes good money doing it, she sticks with it even though it does not make her happy.

     On the other hand, Hots Michaels, a bar pianist, really seems to enjoy his job.  Michaels is not super famous or successful, but he makes a decent living.  Michaels plays the piano in bars as background music to the talking that goes on there.  He is an entertainer.  But what sets Michaels apart from Torrance is that he loves what he is doing.  He says, "I hate to see it end.  I'll dread the day it comes, because I enjoy the action.  I enjoy the people.  If I were to suddenly inherit four million dollars, I guarantee you I'd be playin' piano, either here or some other place" (251).  It is clear that Michaels really loves what he does.  He isn't in it for the money or fame, he does it because that is what makes him happy.

     In sort of a middle ground, Rip Torn, an actor, seems to neither love nor hate his job.  Throughout the passage, he expresses that it is important to be successful in your work, but you should also enjoy it a bit.  He says, "You work out of necessity, but in your work, you gotta have a little artistry too" (85).  I think this shows that he is fairly successful as an actor, but he also enjoys it.  He does share about the ups and downs of his career, which helps keep him honest and believable.

     Personally, I think in the entertainment business, you really have to love what you are doing to be happy.  If you do something just for the money or fame, you will end up unhappier than ever.  Sure the entertainment business seems great, but is it really all it is cracked up to be?

Some things to think about:
-Does success have a direct link to happiness?  Does being successful automatically mean you will be happy?
-Is it more important to put what you love and your happiness over the amount of money you will make, or the amount of fame you have?

Until next time...

Camille