Attack of the Clones! Ah!

Hello, all my readers! I hope your weekend was well, but sadly tomorrow we have to return to work. I swear Fridays-Sunday feels more like a fleeting moment than a three day break. Oh, well, what can we do , but keep moving forward. Anyway, let's get to the topic of this post. I am definitely not the first person to announce this, but I want to give my input So, here it goes. I don't want to be a clone. Do I sound crazy? Am I crazy? Perhaps, but here me out.

I remember from high school there was one particular peer of mine that was a clone. She had a very unhealthy obsession with the singer Rihanna. Like extremely unhealthy. This girl bought all of Rihanna's albums, knew all her songs ( I believe they were put on repeat on her ipod) and even went so far as to mimic Rihanna's clothes and hair. Remember when Rihanna did the big chop and died her hair that blazing bright red? Guess who showed up to school the next day with short cut red hair....yup. My peer definitely had a problem. I am not sure if she ever grew out of it. However, the memory of her strutting down the hall so proudly with her red hair will forever be embedded in my mind. Thinking about it now, I laugh. She was just a clone, a copy cat, a wanna be, dare I even say, a pretender! *gasp* The thing is aren't most of us like that?

Now, admittedly, we all aren't as intense as the girl I described above. We all don't go to those extremes, but aren't we always flipping through some magazine to see what celebrities are wearing? And the word celebrity is not limited to just singers and artists. When Michelle Obama hit the scene do you know how many middle aged moms started aiming towards the "Obama biceps?" What about how many of them suddenly requested bangs when they went to their hair salon? (now they're probably trying to get rid of them). It's not just women either. Do I really need to say it? Justin Bieber. His hair cut was a trend whether men want to admit it or not. There are dozens of examples through out the decades, but what I really want to talk about is why we copy them?

It seems like the rule is whatever celebrities are doing is the "cool" thing. If you want to be one of the elite then you have to copy them. Ever heard of the saying "cleanliness is next to godliness?" Well, in this situation I guess they saying would be, "copying is next to being a celebrity?" The idea is that if we can act and look enough like them then, we are actually almost them (or as close as we're ever going to get) and that's puts us somehow above the other commoners. Well, at least we think it does.

I'm going to say it again. I don't want to be a clone. Though many celebrities can be admired for their creativity and what they do in the world, I don't want to be them and you shouldn't either. Why would I want to be the second Rihanna, the second Obama, the second Hilary Clinton, when I can be the first Tasha? The same goes for you guys. Be the first of yourselves not the second of anyone else because if you do, you will always live in their shadow. That's a fact.

Honestly, I would avoid those fashion and celebrity magazines. They,usually, just make us feel like crap and place unrealistic standards on us. Who cares what Brittney Spears did on her last vacation? Why do we care what the Bushs eat for dinner? We have our own lives, our own families, our own friends, our own problems. Who really has time to try and live two lives? Not me! And you know what? The celeb life may look glamorous when reading about it from a glossy magazine cover, but honey, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Constantly being followed by the paparazzi, having the world nosing in your daily business, being placed on a pedestal that you never asked for anyway...yeah, it's a lot of pressure. I'm not saying it doesn't have its perks, but lets live by our own standards. Let's be ourselves and not the copycats of these "mysterious" celebs who we have been taught are somehow better than us (their not) just because they are celebs.

Your Turn:  I wanna hear from you guys! Are you a celeb clone or have ever been? Why did you do it? Which celeb? And how did you break free? Do you think copying celebs is a real problem in our society? I'm all ears! :)