Beyonce recently broke the internet when she performed for 14 minutes at the US superbowl. Well, she didn't quite break the internet but the way people were going crazy I'm surprised she didn't. Women and men alike everywhere saw her dutty wine and shake her bootylicious derriere and they joined in, as if they were there with her, living the dream. Twitter went nuts, people said she saved Black History Month (it's Black History Month in America incase you didn't know), some people cried, some people probably threw holy water and an offering at the tv screen. The shared excitement was so extreme the lights went out in the stadium minutes she left the stage. Now that's something..
As a UK citizen and someone who has very little interest in pretending to know about American football I didn't stay up, I just watched the performance online the next day. What was interesting was that Beyonce was still trending on twitter when I woke up which was no surprise but very telling of the power of celebrity. When I clicked the hash tag, the level of fanatacism that I witnessed was something I had actually never seen before. After all, it was just a performance (yes, just). She hadn't given birth again or even released a new song.
It's clear to say for some Beyonce is superhuman or "perfect", but let's be honest, she's not. Before the Beyonce fans start to attack me I'd like to say I appreciate Beyonce's talent. She is a powerful woman and an inspiring human being, has an amazing voice, her performances are always full of passion and her earlier albums are some of my favourites.
This is nothing new neither so it's not an attack on Beyonce, I'm not mad at her. She does her thing every time and more power to her. The culture of worship is imbedded in history, from religion to celebrity. Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Madonna - all of the great performers in popular culture and have a worldwide platform have had this level of fan worship.
I recently heard of the twitter trend #cutforBieber where his fans encouraged each other to cut themselves for him after he was spotted smoking weed. Unfortunately (not unfortunately) smoking weed is a common occurrence for teenagers and Justin Bieber is an average 18 year old boy who will act as such. His fans placing his wellbeing as more important as their own is a worrying reminder that celebrity worship can often get out of control.
There's a thin line between admiration and worship. When you position yourself below someone, you elevate them to a place that supersedes their real essence and you also place your humanity below theirs.
Author John Green says in his novel "Paper Towns" - "But isn't it also that on some fundamental level we find it difficult to understand that other people are human beings in the same way that we are? We idealize them as gods or dismiss them as animals." This quote rings true on so many levels.
As a spiritual woman I disassociated my faith in God from a religious viewpoint, which meant that I became responsible for my motives, thoughts and actions. This allowed me to see the true and unlimited potential in myself and of others and understand what it's meant in the book of Genesis when God tells us he created man in his own image. All the enlightened men that walked the Earth, from Jesus Christ to Lord Buddha left behind the message of our birthrights to know Christ consciousness and infinite potential. Because of this it's difficult and disturbing when people with a high level of exposure are placed in such high regard. Beyonce may have admired and found inspiration in some of the greats that have come before her but I think it's safe to say she worshipped no man, but rather saw her unlimited potential, recognised her blessings and put her all in to fulfil her destiny.
Placing too much attention and focus on another person (who walks, talks, feels and does other human stuff like you) and on the things that they have achieved can negate your personal power and can blur the vision of your potential. This is as if to say you too can't use your respective talents and apply determination, faith, focus and hard work to achieve whatever you want. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?
The power lies within not with-out.