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Worship a celebrity and lose your confidence
Some fans follow their idols to several spots a day, cheering and waving banners. (Cherry Cheung)
By Cherry Cheung
Worship an actress or a fictional character and your self-confi-dence may just take a dip.
This is suggested by data from a 2001 study of adolescent idol worship in Hong Kong and China by the Youth Studies Net at the City University of Hong Kong.
The research, based on surveys of 1,343 mainland secondary school students and 298 Hong Kong secondary school students, found that adoration of star or fictional idols may have a negative effect on their psychosocial development.
On the other hand, teens who identified with, and emulated, intellectual idols benefited in terms of higher self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy, as defined in the study, refers to a teen’s “self-confidence and identity formation”.
The study also found that Hong Kong teens are superficial, idolizing stars on the basis of looks, while mainland teens are more substantial, admiring idols for their personalities and achievements.
Over 70 percent of Hong Kong students idolize stars. Only 6.5 percent idolize politicians or other intellectual people, such as scientists, authors and musicians.
By contrast, 42.3 percent of mainland students rank politicians or intellectual people at the top of their idol list, while 39.6 percent choose stars.
Students in Hong Kong who fantasize about having romantic encounters with their idols are more likely to idealize them.
They regard their idols as perfect people who are incapable of disappointing them.
Meanwhile, mainland students tend to emulate the styles of idols with whom they most identify with.
Yue Xiaodong, assistant professor in the Department of Applied Social Studies at the City University, is not surprised.
“This happens all over the world, not only in Hong Kong,” he said.
“But the situation is more distinct in Hong Kong, because the media enjoy a higher degree of freedom. More idols can be created, according to the market’s need.
“Teenagers, therefore, are more likely to choose their idols from show business,” Prof. Yue said.
Another reason Prof. Yue gave for this trend is “commercialized effects” in Hong Kong.
Prof. Yue added, “All idols are commodities.
“Extensive promotion of idols’ beautiful and perfect images results in teens idealizing their idols.”
“It is unhealthful that teenagers only see the good side of their idols,” he commented. “It shows that they lack critical thinking skills, and this hinders their self development.”
Wong Sing Wing, associate professor in the Department of Applied Social Studies at the City University, agrees.
He said, “Since Hong Kong is a capitalistic society, the problem of idol worship is more serious.
“Idol worship is a kind of culture industry.
“The media and advertisers want teenagers to fall into their trap and spend more money on products such as concert tickets and merchandise [endorsed by] their idols.
“When they [the teens] have no more money, they use different methods to get money, like stealing.
“Teenagers become materialistic and selfish.”
Prof. Wong added, “When teenagers fantasize about having romances with their idols, they are inhibited from rational thinking.
“They cannot distinguish between reality and imagination. Eventually, they become perplexed and lost.”
Prof. Wong commented that some events in show business encourage negative values in teenagers.
The ongoing drama between Cecilia Cheung, Faye Wong and Nicolas Tse, and William So’s Ecstasy pill incident, are two examples.
“When worshipping star idols, teenagers follow their idols’ values, no matter if they are right or wrong,” Prof. Wong said.
Nevertheless, he said that teachers do not discuss idol worship in school because they think that discussing such topics distracts students from their studies.
“But we should discuss it, because teenagers will try to imitate their idols no matter what,” Prof. Wong concluded.
Wong He’s super fan: not all fans are crazy
Ariel Li took this photo with Wong He in Tibet last year. (Courtesy of Ariel Li)
By Cherry Cheung
Ariel Li has been a super fan of Wong He for the last 7 years. The 22-year-old master’s student studying urban planning at The University of Hong Kong said Mr. Wong and she are just like friends.
Mr. Wong is an artist active in television drama.
She added, “We are not really ‘friends’, but compared with other stars and their fans, we are much closer.
“He really cares about us, his fans.”
Ms. Li said she gets very excited whenever she sees her idol.
“When I meet him, I am very excited and keep thinking about him for several days thereafter.”
She admires him for his creativity.
“He draws, composes lyrics, writes poems, and designs the covers for his albums. He was also a director for some music videos,” she recounted excitedly.
Ms. Li honors Mr. Wong’s birthday with full solemnity.
She starts preparing his birthday present 6 months in advance every year.
“All the birthday presents I have given him are my own creations.
hey include a huge bottle of handmade stars, a puzzle, a carpet and a collection of his newspaper cuttings,” she recalled.
“My mother said I was crazy and she wondered whether it was necessary for me to be so obsequious over him.”
Ms. Li agrees that some fans are crazy, but she does not count herself as being among them.
“I see some fans who spend most of their time following their idols.
“But not all fans are like that.
“The public stereotypes the image of fans.
“They think that fans only indulge in worshipping their idols and know nothing else.
“On the contrary, I worship Wong He and join every fan function.
et, so far my studies are satisfactory and I have not become a bad person.
“I don’t like being stereotyped.”
Ms. Li said nothing would replace Mr. Wong’s position in her heart.
“I want to be his friend forever, even if he quits show business,” she stressed.