Narcissistic Celebrities

Whatta surprise....

An interesting article was posted on Drudge Report yesterday:

Study: Celebrities More Narcissistic

This little study seems to show that showbiz selects for narcissists, and not that showbiz turns ordinary people into narcissists. Another interesting tidbit is how the most narcissist people are those who do reality shows. If you've watched reality shows you already know this is true.

What this article says confirms my hunches. I have heard those describe "situational narcissism" as an explanation for showbiz (and athletic stars) who only become narcissistic when they are thrown into these arenas. I am sure there are people who fall into this category and are therefore less likely to be malignant in their narcissism, but I have suspected that most of the narcissism we see in the stars was already present in them before they hit stardom. Of course, stardom amplifies the narcissism to levels of extreme that people love to read about in the gossip mags. Stardom just makes them bigger narcissists.

Drudge also linked to Rupert Everett's excerpts of his book dishing on the divas. He describes his encounters with Sharon Stone and Madonna. He doesn't realize that these women are bury-the-needle narcissists so he is mesmerized by their powerful auras if also a bit terrified of them. They command a room with their sexuality. These women have the utter and complete self-confidence that only a narcissist is capable of. They can be as bizarre (Sharon Stone) or as rude as they want to (Madonna) without consequence. They are always playing to an audience. Read this comment of Everett's:

"....make no mistake: Sharon's career was a 24/7 affair. She didn't have to be on a sound stage to be filming. The world was her camera and her alarm clock was the clapperboard."

This is true of any narcissist I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. They are always playing to an audience. Even if it is just their family and the stage is their livingroom. Sharon Stone's breath-taking beauty and Madonna's .... oh, I don't know .... talent?.....whatever....anyway, what they have just grants them a bigger stage to act on.

The Everett excerpt on Sharon Stone and why she scares him is here:

My Life With the Divas

And the excerpt on his encounters with Madonna are here:

Madonna--Before She Became the Material Girl

I can understand if you don't want to read these articles....I found the one on Madonna rather tedious. I kept losing interest in the story so I had to make several runs to finish the article. This isn't "must" reading. It is mildly interesting if you like watching the train-wreck that happens when people collide with narcissists....or just watching the narcissist do what they do. Remember that Everett has no idea he is describing narcissists. He, like most people, is awed by their power, their massive self-confidence, their commanding sexuality. Even if they scare him a bit. He reminds me a bit of a pagan worshiper. In fear and awe he bows to the god's supremacy. If he could only see how small his god really is.