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i Editor's Letter: The 'giant vampire squid' of fame

 

Stefano Hatfield
Thursday 17 November 2011 01:00 GMT
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Some people are born famous, like Suri Cruise; some aspire to fame any which way they can get it, like Nancy Dell’Olio or Frankie Cocozza; while others have fame thrust upon them like poor Chris Jefferies, Joanna Yeates’ eccentric looking, but innocent, landlord.

There’s relative fame: a journo who appears on TV, or a lottery winner; the big, starry fame that a Katherine Jenkins or leading TV presenter might endure, which, alongside obvious reward, brings a terrible loss of privacy, the risk of stalkers and worse.

Then there’s the “giant vampire squid” type of fame that devours the right of Twilight star Robert Pattinson and the singer Justin Bieber to have personal lives, or to breathe without being mobbed by both screaming teenage girls and oily paparazzi. It’s hard not to feel sympathy for these young men, who simply have a talent to entertain, combined with good looks. Watching the girl hordes at the premiere of Breaking Dawn (p15), screaming “bite me” at Pattinson, the Barnes boy who grew up to be the world’s hottest vampire, it’s clear his degree of fame becomes a cage. It was no surprise that the woman who said Bieber fathered her baby recanted, but he will live with it regardless (like Jefferies).

So, here’s the big “BUT”. If all the above has not put you off yet, and you could cope with a little bit of fame, then you may be interested to know that, like last year, i is looking for a reader(s) to feature in our planned new ad campaign. If you want to appear, then email i@independent.co.uk with your photograph and a brief paragraph explaining why we should pick you to star in our ad. Closing date: Friday 25 November. Remember, be careful what you wish for.

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