Flavorwire: The MTV VMAs are known for their outrageous moments. Sometimes they’re planned, like the Madonna and Britney Spears kiss that Christina Aguilera never got over, and sometimes they aren’t, like Kanye’s “I’mma let your finish” moment that Taylor Swift will never get over. But some of the most telling moments of the show happen off-camera, where the online streams are off-limits and celebrities get real. The audience never sees them. Although the stories get told within a certain segment of the music industry, the average Joe doesn’t hear a peep about them. But I do.
5 comments:
That job seems like a hot mess, especially if you're just starting out. I can hardly imagine having to handle a bunch of rich, famous, beautiful people that I might admire and then slowly realizing how awful, ugly and generally human they are when you get to know them behind the camera. That being said, it would still be cool to be behind the scenes of an awards show, if just to see all the drama that goes on. I would assume it's terribly crowded by all the non-celebrity entourage, because at an awards show the celebrities with the most power have the most free will to invite everyone they want into their dressing room and what not. It also wasn't surprising to read that other celebrities are as creepy as we regular people might be to other celebrities. They might be even creepier, because they might think because they have some semblance of star power they have the right to get into another celebrity's space. But if I were going to work for any awards show, it definitely would not be the VMA's.
I suppose to the average TV audience member, it would be easy to assume the glossy, clock-work like machinations seen on stage at awards shows are a product of an organized, and efficiently streamlined and practiced backstage. These anecdotes all highlight the importance of effective upper management, and perhaps more communication between those on the "ground" and "the powers that be".
That said, while this article was vaguely illuminating, I feel like it was indeed a bit biased. Granted, the more horrible recollections generally make for better stories than the tales of the things that went right, or as they had been practiced. But I am sure stories of truly thankful and upstanding celebrities do exist, perhaps in a greater number than expected. While the tale of the assistant catering to the idle caprice of a celebrity might be a story to strike fear or disgust in the hearts of some, this article only address (briefly!) a few facets of a robust and dynamic aspect of entertainment.
This is actually very interesting to me. I spent my whole high school theatre career trying to put an end to the immature mindset of our crew that the performers involved were reckless, air heads that needed to be coddled. I insisted that being an actor made you no less intelligent than anyone else, and that in more professional theatre’s the performers were truly artist, with an impeccable amount of skill. Now, I wouldn’t go as far to say all celebrities are artists, but with this article we are discussing performers and it does sound very much so like they need to be coddled! Perhaps for some, one a certain level of fame is reached the strive for professionalism disappears. The anecdote about the group of 5 men that would wander in separate directions particularly irks me. You wonder just how self centered this band could be that they would jeopardize this entire award show, wasting everyone, including their own fans time and money. And for what? Because they couldn’t be bothered to listen to their assistant. The nerve.
This article is very successful in making the entertainment industry seem a lot less glamorous than one might think. I still think that working backstage at an awards show would be a really cool job, but it reminds me of a experience I had in the past. During my sophomore year a traveling company of Broadway singers came to our high school for a cabaret performance, and I was in charge of handling two of them. Our performing arts center was riddled with technical issues, so there always inevitably sound problems.The performers acted similarly to Kylie Minogue in the way that they were very forgiving and adaptable. One of the others was the opposite and snapped at a freshman who was trying to replace the batteries in his mic. I wasn't in charge of handling him, but I heard after the event that he had yelled at person who was. The idea that people outside my small town also act like isn't surprising, but it is a little disappointing. People should realize that in a production of that level everyone is just trying to get their jobs done. It's understandable that being a celebrity can get to someone's head, but that's no excuse to abuse the people who are helping you. I guess we can only hope that there are more Kylies than Kanyes in the world.
There is no surprise that there exists more interesting drama backstage. What I do find surprising is how closely the true nature of the famous and popular resemble that of a spoiled child. I understand that the author was only citing some incidents that occur backstage that to the average person who has never had a firsthand experience would find baffling. To me I have always understood the stress and struggle of how much work it takes to make the image on stage seem flawless because the effort that everyone puts in is what creates the “magic”. But what I find truly puzzling is that lack of seriousness and true commitment from the stars. I can sympathizes that in some ways their lives have turned upside down and that they are constantly being judged for every action and they have lost all sense of privacy for the rest of their lives in today’s age. In theory they are in this business because they are good at what they do and have found success in the industry, and I would hope that provided that this is true they would be committed to putting out their best work. I have to wonder if their lack of commitment backstage stems from the thought that it is the one place where they have a “sense of privacy” and can be their true selves.
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