general Does fame equal self-expression?

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

Ever since Lady Gaga debuted to the world, I have been noticing more and more of these "Im so different" type of stars. Stars who dress in eye catching manners or in unconventional ways. However, its not just celebrities; its also personalities on youtube and social media.

Its fine to express yourself, and im not against it. However, when you look at their life before they were famous they were waaaaay different. Lady Gaga dident dress how she does, nor did she advocate for gay rights much less care.

I know, people change as they grow. Theres no denying that. However, when its such a radical change in a short amount of time you gotta wonder some things.

Now, if you or me were to dye our hair or wear wigs we would undoubtedly get people asking us are we going bald or something similar. If you or me wore a barely there dress, we wouldnt be called brave or bold.
So I ask, if you had the fame of a celebrity or internet personality would you dress and act differently? Like, if you were a metal head but most of your fans were pop fans, would you become a pop fan as well and never listen to metal?

For me, its easy to say I'd always stay myself and never change anything about me. If i were in the situation where everyone watched what i did, id probably hide my more out their interests like dressing up as a pretty princess.

[碇 シンジン 27,439]

I think it gets harder and harder to really be yourself if you gain a certain amount of following especially if you gained them somehow without being yourself.

There is a lot of pressure in the industry and everyone knows that if you do something radical you get more attention for a short time than the competition.

[TBD 17,272]

Here's what I think. "I'll take my sanity, you take the fame". No matter how hard you try to be self-expressed, the media is gonna bent it.

[The Recherche 29,982]

Truth be told... fame and recognition requires one to wear a mask in some capacity, in most cases. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to lie about yourself, but you need some way of attracting the general audience to your products and services. For example, here are names that almost everyone can recognize:

• Billy Mays. Why do we remember him? His incredibly enthusiastic marketing campaigns. There's a reason that many, many companies hired him to advertise their products: his bombastic persona made them more enticing. Did he act this way in real life? Not even remotely.
• Lady Gaga. Why do we remember her? Not only do many folks enjoy her music, but she has a knack for, how you say... "outrageous" acts, as you described them. This certainly isn't a new practice, but she can be considered the pioneer of the mainstream, "outrageous" pop star. Does her behavior in real life mirror that of her pop star antics? Not even remotely.
• Michael Rosen. Why do we remember him? Not only is his manner of telling childhood/fictional stories very enthusiastic, but his expressiveness only makes him more memorable. Does he behave in real life, as he does in his many YouTube videos? Vaguely, at best.

The point is, most people or products which become famous have a colorful personality or persona to back them up. Is this always the case? Not necessarily, but it's certainly frequent enough to be recognized as a pattern. Hell, I can even use myself as an example; during my most active phases of the Forums... I certainly had a persona of sorts. I talked a big game about class, fashion, and what-have-you. While I am genuinely fond of both things, there was certainly some exaggeration on my part... and you know what? It worked.

So, to summarize... does fame equal self-expression? It can, but those cases are fleeting.

[Dreambiscuit 11,173]

When someone becomes famous and the world's eyes are fixed on them, they become more of a product than a person in many cases. It's not always their fault; I'm sure their publicists and managers have plenty to say about it. And managers do what their sponsors want, which is to promote what they're selling, even when it's a human being. Making them dress and act more flamboyantly, or advocate a cause that will win them points in a certain demographic of the audience is all part of the strategy. So I doubt the changes in self expression are part of anything more than commercial visibility and salesmanship. 

[Here No Longer 5,286]

It has nothing to do with it in my belief.