You’re only young once
Everyone wants to be a Miley Cyrus, a Selena Gomez or a Justin Bieber. The craze for teen superstars these days surpasses their adult counterparts. Kids want to look like them, walk and even talk like them. But the idols themselves seem to be doing all they can to shed their teen idol image and join the “big” league. No one seems to want to portray themselves as young, fun, innocent kids anymore. Mature, independent, rebellious, nonchalant – that’s the image they want and their fans are only too eager to follow in their footsteps.
Take for example Miley Cyrus (also known as her onscreen altar-ego, Hannah Montana). Once a role model for little girls the world over, Miley has been voted the worst teen influence for two consecutive years now. Her recent videos featuring her in her underwear, face caked with make-up, hair and nail extensions and even false eyelashes are being seen as a desperate bid to shake off her “Disney” image.
But Miley is not the only one. Dakota Fanning has traded in her I am Sam days for the exotic vampire image in Twilight Saga. And after the make-up crew has worked their magic on her it’s almost impossible to tell that she’s only 16! Likewise, Taylor Momsen who plays Jenny Humphrey in the Gossip Girl series seems to have taken her onscreen image of a boy-crazy, drug-peddling, Goth chick too seriously. These days it’s tough to catch her without oodles of black eyeliner or wearing any colour other than black for that matter.
What these so-called “teen stars” and “teen idols” seem to forget is that they have millions of young girls and boys watching them everyday, considering them to be the height of cool, and trying to look, talk and dress just like them.
“In your early teen years you’re greatly influenced by what actors are wearing and doing and you try to emulate your idols — especially teen stars. Nowadays people are very aware of what they want, what they don’t want, and what looks good on them,” says Tejaswi Shetty, a student at Sophia College, Mumbai.
Eventually all teen girls start wanting to look like adults — with hair extensions, manicures, professional make-up and figure hugging, skimpy outfits. But it has come to the point that instead of being attractive, they look awful trying to emulate their favourite stars. Jiya Jaisingh (17) says, “I think it has become fashionable to portray yourself to be older than you really are. It’s not just about aping the stars, it’s about being bored with your life and wanting to grow up faster. There is nothing wrong with high-end wardrobes and designer haircuts but when some teens go overboard, they end up looking like fools rather than adults.”
You get to be an adult for the rest of your life, but you only have the present to be young and free. Years later today’s teens will be begging to look younger than their years. So it’s best to enjoy what you have now. And it’s about time the youngsters of today found themselves new idols who are more comfortable in their own skins and are actually worth emulating.
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