Rock and Roll Stars as Role Models

We see them everywhere: music, TV, and movie personalities dominating the pages of popular magazines today, assuming an attitude or a role that their fans -- usually the youth, would admire and copy. Music personalities are especially influential in depicting and portraying specific images to the public: Madonna is depicted as the independent female, while the male band leaders are adored by men and women alike. However, there are also contentions against their apparent influence over society: more often than not rock and roll starts show attitudes that are not desirable to what society wants for themselves and for the youth. In effect, to some people, rock and roll stars (and entertainment personalities, for that matter) become bad influences to the society in general. However, one must take a pragmatist view of how to assess this issue (i.e., considering whether or not rock and roll stars are role models). It is important that it is the individual who decides for himself/herself what to believe in, what person or people who will influence him/her. Thus, if an individual considers The Beatles his/her idols despite the bad publicity given them, then it is entirely up to the individual to decide whether they are role models or not. Indeed, if analyzed thoroughly, we, the spectators, are 'choosers' or 'selectors' of the market of personalities 'available' to us, and our decision to consider one personality to become a role model over another is a decision mainly influenced by the individual's culture, social environment, personality and attitudes. Thus, rock and roll stars have every right to be called role models, in the same way that we, as spectators and members of popular culture, have the right to choose which among them (personalities) we consider rightfully as a role model or not.