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| Chris Brown |
You are sitting at home watching the evening news with your family as a preview comes on about an upcoming story about an entertainer who has a history of legal troubles. “Oh no, what did he (or she) do now?” Those are the words that immediately come from one of your family members. You also may have the same thought although not speaking out. It seems that some musicians and actors are like a magnet to trouble. Why?
Years back I remember an acquaintance with drug problems mentioned to me that “trouble seems to find him”, as if he was innocent and could not avoid adverse situations. His account was not accurate because he could avoid troublesome situations, but possibly remained in surroundings that lead to brushes with the law. Meaning he had the same friends, frequented the same establishments, and most of his habits remained ensuring the drugs would always be easily accessible. Is this the reason so many entertainers are continuously exhibiting problematic behavior? Or are there other explanations? Let’s think about it as we feature Chris Brown this week.
If you don’t know anything about Chris Brown, he is a young, very talented musician who also is an excellent dancer. He has been very busy in the music industry as he will release his sixth studio album later this year. The Grammy and American Music Award winning artist has also found his way into acting roles in films and television. All of his accomplishments have occurred as Chris Brown just celebrated his twenty-fourth birthday two months ago. Along with all his achievements in the entertainment industry has came much publicized adversity. When you hear the name Chris Brown, you most likely associate his name with Rihanna, and then domestic violence.
Chris Brown and singer Rihanna, dating during the year 2009, got into an argument that turned physical and Brown was charged with assault and sentenced to probation and community service. That would have been enough to overcome but then there were other incidents involving rapper Drake and singer Frank Ocean that further scarred his name. All of these incidents compounded to create a bad boy image for Chris Brown in the media. Many people feel that the bad boy image is a positive thing, and that entertainers can parlay it into more fame. However, the incidents are real, and Chris Brown must live with them every day. They also have had an adverse affect on his career. How?
Many may not know that in 2007, Chris Brown cashed in on his early success and founded his own record label CBE (Chris Brown Entertainment) on Interscope Records. Now the label is doing fine as Brown has signed a good group of artists to start their own music careers. Although in 2009 according to Brown, negative press kept him from working with some of his earlier signed artists, which forced them to move to other labels. Therefore the negative image not only cost Chris Brown but also others associated with him. Has Chris Brown learned anything from all of this? What are his next steps? Is the mainstream media correct about his image of a bad boy?
First of all Chris Brown, like anyone else, will grow as a person and will develop changes in his life outlook. I listened to him on a recent radio interview and although still young, he understands how the media works and has accepted what happened in the past and how this affected others perception of him. In the radio interview Chris Brown said that the media tends to only look for the negative stories and ignore any positive activities. True or not, Chris Brown’s ability to own the incidents, and speak about them freely in interviews will help others not forgive or forget what he has done, but understand him. This might be the best public opinion Chris Brown will ever enjoy.
Like many of his contemporaries Brown has taken more control over his music and the business end of his career. A long time fan of Michael Jackson, Chris Brown does not shy away from paying homage to his inspiration in his video for current single Fine China. Overall, I would love to see Brown put all of his troubles behind him and concentrate on his career. Hopefully his next accomplishments will all surround his music and not negative events in his personal life.
The rich and famous are very vulnerable people. And when they mess up its get all over. I think we need to stop thinking of these folks as perfect, cause they have their own insecurities, flaws, and yes a lot of them do drugs and party and they may get hooked on it.
Being on the road all the time doing tours is isolating (don't see family and friends) and you don't get a lot of sleep, as well as you always have to be "on" for the fans/cameras.
How can you not expect a person to crack? As well as Mr. Brown does have anger issues (beating Rihanna) if he wasn't a sultry singer, singing about true love, he wouldn't have millions of people rooting for him at concerts.
The negative press was well deserved – domestic violence is abhorrent and makes me not want to know about him as a person. I am sure he is talented, but I have no wish to follow someone so horrible.
Lets hope he grows up and learns from his mistakes.
Negative press sells. Sometimes I feel celebrities do things to get attention in the first place. One minute Rhianna is in love with Chris, next she is not and now she is back with him. I think much of it is a publicity plow. Many people like to connect with the bad boy image. He is still making money, so it hasn't hurt his career. He does nothing for me.
Given all the attention the media has given to both Chris Brown and Rhianna, I don't feel compelled to follow either of them. I can appreciate their talent, but the way they handled each other in the public eye has really put me off.
I am not familiar with his music but I have heard his name in media and yes it is normally negative. At such a young age, he has accomplished so much. What people need to remember is that we are all human in make human mistakes. The important thing is that he has hopefully learned from these mistakes. 🙂
I agree with you that the media tends to only report the negative stuff. People tend to like reading the negative stuff.. it's like a magnet. Repeat offenders tend to turn me off as well. Everyone makes mistakes, but to keep making them…
I didn't know he was so young. WOW. It always amazes me not what people have done negatively at a young age–well except for Hernandez–but what people have accomplished. I think when you are accomplishing so much at such a young age, it is almost impossible to avoid a bad situation. If anybody knows this is true, I think Chris Brown said it the best when he said that the media will always seek out negative aspects.
Often when I hear of an upcoming story about an entertainer with a history of legal troubles I roll my eyes and say that this is nothing new. Sometimes I then change the channel so I don't have to hear the story.
Repeat Offenders (for lack of a better term) are a turn off. I stop watching their movies and shows and stop listening to their music. Off the top of my head the only exception for me was Michael Jackson. I just thought he was weird and I seem to be attracted to weird.