Work Hard. Party Harder.

    This week in blogosphere we were asked, 'Is there a dark side to American success?' To me, this read as the ultimate place to display my extensive knowledge of celebrity gossip and pop culture references. So, let's go. In this blog, driven by the hard hitting journalism of Us Weekly and E! News, the lovely 'Tennis Courts' by Lorde will serve as our background music. As she sings about the fear that comes with her impending fame she states that, 'We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear.' Fear that comes from the loss of anonymity due to fame, also fear of how fame and money can change someone as a person. If I were to delve into all the celebrities who abuse drugs to cope with stresses that come with fame and fortune (aka success) the list would be longer than Old Miley's hair.  Athletes face the same challenge when using steroids. The pressure to be on top is so great that they are willing to risk their entire career and reputation to continue to be successful.
    The September 2013 issue of Glamour magazine featured the story of Christina Huffington's battle with cocaine addiction. Christina is the daughter of Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, and a congressman. Naturally, she felt a great need to be successful to keep up with the impressive track record of her family members. Much like in The Great Gatsby Christina was living a very privileged life and stated, "the thought doing drugs felt naughty and glamorous." Christina was able to quit cold turkey after first doing cocaine at age 16, but relapsed after seeing cocaine again in college. Christina went to Yale. The American mentality towards success is often 'Work hard. Play hard.' demonstrated in The Great Gatsby with his lavish parties associated with the roaring 20's. Yet, the party scene has been proven to reveal a dark side time and time again. Overall, coping with the pressures that success puts on a person is near impossible without some repercussions. In celebrity reference closing, Hoodie Allen has got us covered by summing it all up. 'Fame is for A$*holes' we can trust him because we went to University of Pennsylvania BEFORE he was famous. He so humbly informs us of in 'James Franco'. 'Ivy League cuz I'm a genius'. (I cry myself to sleep over this fact sometimes)
See ya next week guys :) bye :)