Many calculate their success through the lenses of what they see on television.
Keeping up with the Kardashians, Being Bonang , Living The Dream with Somizi and Being Mrs Jones by Minnie Dlamini Jones, have set a standard of what living large and living a good life might be to many ordinary South Africans.
The expensive lifestyles of attending events, and drinking “champagne darling”, as Bonang Matheba would say, looks a lot like a reflection of success.
The life portrayed on reality television has made the viewers think that television stars or celebrities are exempt from a life of pain, struggles and disappointments, as the scripted reality television shows portray them as leading glam and lavish lifestyles.
However, before you become downcast and look down upon yourself and give up on life, take note of this truth: there is a reality behind reality TV.
The reality is that, though on television screens celebrities may be portrayed as superheroes who are exempt from ordinary struggles, in reality they are just as human, and go through the same situations as any other human beings.
One cannot be gullible and overlook that although their problems may not be like those of Peter, but there is a James somewhere who shares the same problems as they do. Portraying a lavish lifestyle is not a problem. Everyone who makes a bed will lie in it.
The greatest problem is when the viewers make uncalculated decisions to look down upon themselves after their attempts to live their lives through the lenses of television programmes fail.
It is unjustifiable to then blame the Kardashians or Somizis, and say they have set a bad example.
The root of the problem is that, beyond celebrating television stars, the audience develops a tendency to revere and worship these stars, and unconsciously turn them into role models.
A role model is a person whose life one desires to model, emulate or imitate.
If this is the case, how does one wish to imitate a life they don’t really know, or have no first-hand experience with?
This article tries to comfort those who may be hustling and slowly climbing the ladder.
That life is not about fame and glam; it is not about designer brands or big events.
What is shown in many celebrity reality television programmes is not really a lived reality.
Truth is that that they too have to put in hard work and experience sleepless nights and rainy days which no one gets to see on television.
However, no one is exempt from life’s problems, whether financial, physical, emotional or family-related. Be careful of what you desire.
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