"Public Property?"

 We keep on whining about how we as teenagers don’t have a choice. How our parents and teachers expect the absolute best from us and for us and occasionally carry out inhumane injunctions to ensure that we have a secure future and our families have brighter names. All of us are given something to fight over. Whether it be in the honor-bound versions we are in front of our guardians to the overly protective and sensitive citizen we become when it comes to religion or ethnicity , we are constantly on a defensive mode. A YouTube comment dares rub us in the wrong way and we dedicate the next few hours to ensure that the person knows our exact opinion of them.

What was that? K-pop is what now?!

  What is really ironic though is how little choice we give ourselves. We live in a world in which a 16 year old girl’s poorly waxed upper lip will stir more gossip than national disaster. We are part of a society where we simultaneously blame lack of opportunities for our low self-confidence levels while spending hours criticizing each other’s fashion sense.

OMG! Socks and sandles together?! That HAS to be a sin right?

We call society lethal but are we truly not part of it all?

  How many of us can look at ourselves in the mirror and see no difference between the person they are and the person they want to be?

  The answer of course is most of us. We’re getting better at this game. At least we’re getting better at something right? Great job! Society would be so proud of you for finally mastering the art of lying to yourself.

  You see that’s the first step. But as long as you can manage this? The backstabbing and drama won’t be too much to handle I’m sure. Look at you! Learning so fast.

Great work guys!

  Our expectations from everyone are TRULY appalling. Give yourself a moment here, cause I’m sure none of you have actually ever done this: have you ever actually thought that just maybe we expect a little too much from everyone too?

  Like think about it, if the latest song from your favorite band isn’t top notch then okay its your band you can be disappointed. But why do other things matter to you? What difference does it make if your all time favourite singer put on weight or your favourite actress married someone you do not like? Why does it matter if your bias is dating someone who you don’t approve of? Why does it wear off on your nerves in the worst possible way when things don’t work out as you want them to?

  You waste no chance to tell everyone how unfair they are but how fair are you? How fair are you when you’re okay with invading a celebrity’s personal space? How fair are you when you casually toss about words like “public property” and “fan service”? How fair are you when you google waist sizes of models before deciding on your favourite one? How fair are you when you casually pass suggestions for players to resign as you believe that its not their era anymore? How fair are you when you believe that you have every right to keep favourites depending upon appearances rather than talents?

 Then there are those people. The people who actually realize what they are doing and have no shame whatsoever in still doing it. The people who believe that after they spend their energy in liking that Instagram model’s every picture, that after they have boasted about how that actor has the best body type to all of their friends, that after they’ve made it a point to stream that singers latest music video then they truly do have a right.

I mean we do so much for them; the least they can do is fulfill our craving hormones right?

Right?

Wrong.

  These people believe that celebrities head in this direction while knowing what is to come. That actors sign contracts while knowing that they will never be able to go even grocery shopping by themselves. That singers enjoy the attention thrown on them as if they were the world’s very axis.

Could you?

Could you ever be prepared for it?

For knowing that if you were brave enough to follow your dreams it would have side effects in the form of fans.

Because honestly that is how I define today’s fan.

A side effect.

A terrible side effect that celebrities could live better off without.

 True we are what keeps them going. After all what fun is running if there are no witnesses? What makes you different are the people who adore you. People left awestruck on the sidelines. People who shout your name even if their voices run sore. Because we love them. Because they deserve our love.

(How could one not like them? How?)

But the question here isn’t if we love them. The question is how much.

(*inserts fandom references everywhere*)

  

  Imagine waking up to a world which isn’t even yours to claim. Imagine calling yourself free knowing that the second your body guards loose sight of you there will be legit people who’ll take candid shots just to bid them off at the highest price. Imagine doing everything while knowing that everyone will know that its being done. Imagine still trying to fight for that last piece of yourself. Trying to fight for the authority to keep secrets. Secrets like breakups and scandals that are hard enough as it is without the entire universe giving their opinion on them. Imagine deliberately starving yourself just so you can maintain your following. Just so your ‘fans’ won’t ditch you at the first sign of being not plump but healthy. Imagine having to pose for selfies with those very people.

These fans that steal your basic human rights.

These fans that generate your income in doing so.

These fans that you love because they love you

These fans that you’re not even sure what to feel about.

Can you imagine it?

Cause I tried. And it’s suffocating.

If thinking of it is so hard, what must it actually feel like?

But then comes the BIG question.

We claim to love them.

Is this what love does?

Or is this even love?

  Can we ever truly love someone we haven’t met? Or do we just love the idea of them. The idea of perfection. The idea of being so good that you become unattainable. The idea of being a size zero. The idea of shooting effortless three pointers. The idea of hitting that high note.

  Because if there’s something the movies and novels agree on it’s that love -true love-  is always unconditional.

And there’s always a condition with us. There is always a ‘what if’ and ‘if then’.

So does true love even exist? Or do we always fall for ideas rather than people?

There really isn’t any way of knowing is there?

  If there is one thing I know though it’s that:

Having people love you or even the idea of you does not make you any less of a human.

 Having people believe you’re perfect doesn’t make you so. If this world was running based upon what we thought of each other it would have stopped existing eons ago.

So the next time you talk of your favourite celebrities like they actually are “public property”, just remember that being objectified is one of the worst feelings out there. That as long as someone is breathing and has a capable thinking mind, the only person who will ever have a right on that human will be the person itself. Your love for them or your love for the idea of them can never change that.