Celebrity Role Playing...Is It Worth It?

We've all seen it on Facebook and Twitter...and, in the earlier days, on Yahoo Messenger. There are people out there who role play as their favourite celebrity.

While it may sound innocent enough, not everyone who does it is honest enough to let people know that they're just role playing.

Most who do these role plays do it just for fun...or maybe they do it because it makes their lives more interesting. Unfortunately, there are those out there who also do it to cause harm to others.

In reality, there are laws against impersonating another person. Some would consider it mild identity theft. While some would be flattered that another would find them interesting enough to impersonate them, the rest would find it to be a twisted, deluded behaviour.

Also, there are also naive people out there who would truly believe in the lie. As an admin, I have certainly encountered some of these fans asking me if I was Tom Hiddleston because I talk like him. Never in any capacity have I ever claimed, or said that I was Tom.

But, if these hapless fans encounter someone who does pretend to be Tom...and they extend that lie further, people will be hurt. Everybody wants to meet their favourite celebrity, but at what cost?

Role playing seems harmless but it causes problems for the person being impersonated. What happens if someone roleplaying Tom or someone else hurts a fan's feelings? Then Tom or the celebrity impersonated would be blamed. Is that fair? Of course not.

I'd say that role players should stop living vicariously through celebrities and do things to enrich their lives. Sure, it's fun to pretend to be someone else, but it's much better to focus on your own life and make it better.

Quite possibly, role playing is a way of compensating for a lack of something in a person's life. If a man pretends to be Tom Hiddleston, it's quite possibly because Tom is cultured, handsome, and attracts all the ladies. Instead of pretending to be him, a person can introduce himself/herself to the works of Shakespeare, improve on their appearance and personality.

We are but lumps of clay that can be molded into anything we want ourselves to be. Why sell ourselves short by pretending to be someone we're not?

The new year is approaching us and we have New Years resolutions to make and uphold. Why not make a resolution to improve yourself?