Addiction to Fame and Celebrity
Is it possible that narcissists are addicted to fame?
Answer:
Yes, without a doubt. This is, by far, the most important motivation for them. Becoming famous serves several key roles, including the following: it endows the narcissist with power, provides him with a constant Source of Narcissistic Supply (admiration, adoration, approval, awe), and fulfils important Ego functions.
In return, individuals who are exposed to the narcissist’s stardom or fame hurl back at him the image that he has projected. In this way, he comes to feel alive, his basic existence is confirmed, and he gains a sense of well-defined boundaries (where the narcissist ends and the world begins).
There is a set of narcissistic behaviours that are characteristic of those who are pursuing celebrity status. There is practically nothing that the narcissist refrains from doing, and there are almost no boundaries that he is unwilling to breach in order to obtain fame and fortune.
According to him, there is no such thing as “negative publicity,” and the only thing that matters is that one be in the public view.
Because the narcissist takes pleasure in all forms of attention and prefers to be feared as much as he loves to be adored, he isn’t bothered if information about him is inaccurate (as long as they spell his name correctly), for example.
The only times a narcissist experiences negative emotions is when he or she is not receiving enough attention, publicity, or exposure.
In the aftermath of this experience, the narcissist feels empty and hollowed out, unimportant and insignificant, humiliated and enraged, discriminated against, neglected and unjustly treated, among other things.
At first, he seeks to attract the attention of ever-shrinking groups of people who are familiar with him (“supply scale down”). However, the perception that he is compromising gnaws at his already weak sense of self-worth.
Spring will arrive sooner or later, no matter how long it takes. When the narcissist feels that his or her public exposure has been lost, he or she schemes, contrives, plans and conspires, thinks, analyses and synthesises, and does whatever else is necessary to reclaim that exposure.
When he fails to capture the attention of the target audience (which is always the largest), he becomes more audacious, unorthodox, and ridiculous in his approach. A firm decision to make oneself recognised is turned into resolute action, which is subsequently transformed into a panicked pattern of attention-seeking behaviours to gain attention.
The narcissist isn’t very concerned about gaining public attention. Narcissists are deceptive in their behaviour. The narcissist gives the impression that he loves himself, but in reality, he despises himself.
As an example, he looks to be interested in becoming a celebrity, but in truth, he is more concerned with the REACTIONS to his famous: people watch him, notice him, speak about him, discuss his behaviour, and so on, which is what makes him an actual person.
While walking around town, the narcissist is looking for and collecting the different looks on people’s faces as soon as they notice him. He attempts to position himself as the centre of attention, if not as a figure of controversy.
He bothers people closest to him on a continual and recurrent basis in an attempt to reassure himself that he is not losing his reputation, his magic touch, or the attention of his social milieu.
The narcissist, on the other hand, is not picky. Whether as a writer or as a businessman, he writes when he has the opportunity to become well-known for his work.
He transitions from one field to another with ease and without remorse since he is present in each and every one of them without conviction, with the exception of the conviction that he must (and deserves to) become famous.
He evaluates activities, hobbies, and individuals not on the basis of the pleasure they provide him, but on the basis of their utility: can they or cannot they make him known, and if so, to what extent can they make him known. The narcissist has a single point of view (not to say obsessive).
His universe is a realm of black (being unknown and starved of attention) and white (having access to resources) (being famous and celebrated).
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