Everyone's 15 minutes of fame

Andy Warhol, an American artist had once said, “In the future everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes.” True enough, Andy Warhol didn’t get it wrong. Fifteen minutes of fame? What does it mean? Is fame only last for fifteen minutes? Literally, no. According to Wikipedia, 15 minutes of fame is expression that connotes about a short-lived media publicity or celebrity of an individual or phenomenon. This is often used in reference to figures in the entertainment industry or other areas of popular culture, such as Reality TV or Youtube. In other words, someone become famous but only a short span of time.

Before, being famous doesn’t take only instantly nor it doesn’t take about short time. Some of the famous actors and actresses in the showbiz scene took them sometime to make it big time. For example, Dolphy started in vaudeville before landing in silver screen. Some of them take countless auditions to make it in a role in films and television, eventually getting famous either locally or internationally.

Today, it doesn’t take a much wait to make it on the spotlight. In this generation, where every home can afford TV sets and computers, mobile phones connected to the internet and social networking and video sharing websites such as Facebook and Youtube, it is no wonder that everyone can have access to fame instantly. Famous people like entertainers or politicians can reach the masses through the wanders of television and become a household name, not to mention, influential. With a click of mouse, everyone can express their own personal opinions and criticisms through blogs, Facebook posts and tweets. One can display talents through video sharing websites and gain viewers from different parts of the world, making the world their center stage. Who can forget Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda and Zendee Rose Tenerefe, thanks to Youtube, had become famous and now recording artists.

Anyone can become freely and instantly famous positively or negative, like it or not. Whistleblowers become instant heroes like Jun Lozada who had sparked the television screens when he revealed the anomaly of NBN-ZTE deal with matching crying in front of the camera and an airport suspense upon his arrival at NAIA. Ordinary people like Carabuena who was caught by the camera while assaulting an MMDA officer and recent, the humiliation of a lady guard in an LRT station by Salvosa with her slang accent, “Amalayer” have shine in a bad light. Added to this are tons of videos of aspiring talents, events and weird, funny and awesome videos caught by the lens that are circulating in Youtube, contestants that have joined reality contests and politicians that had made publicity through media. And not to mention, scandals that had rocked the entertainment industry and the world of politics. In just a few matter of hours, people find heroes, talents and entertainment to praise, support and applaud but in a just a few matter of hours, people tags villains to criticize, condemn and cyberbully. But whether, it is a good or bad, it is still publicity and these characters that had graced our television screens, computers and mobile phones have become undeniably famous; the man or woman of the hour.

However, instant popularity is not a sureball nor permanent. Overtime, the general public forgot what these people had done and barely be even recognizing them unless there are people that will remind that they are the ones who had make it in the newspaper, television and becomes talk of the town. In the fast paced changing world where everyone is hungry for something new, there might be no place left for those who have already got their share of limelight. In a few months or even a year later, we might not remember what incident happened on LRT-1 or PNoy had dated a girl named Grace Lee. Luckily, there are people, accidentally or intentionally, becomes the center of attention in the media and the cyber community.

In the end, it boils down that people follow where the wind goes. What is the newsmaker today be talked about. What is vogue for today will be followed. But tomorrow, what is newsmaker today are not be talked about anymore. What is vogue today becomes “has-been”. And the cycle goes on…



This is only an opinion of the author of this blog.