Are we too forgiving of celebrities?

Many of us have been there before… A cheating partner, an abusive relationship, a friend or loved who had a little too much to drink and did something stupid landing them in trouble with the law.

While we are quick to judge those closest to us, it seems that as a whole we are far more forgiving of those who are famous.

There have been countless cases in the past involving celebrities who do bad, but stay on top because of their fame and status. Mel Gibson’s tirade against Jews, Sean Connery’s admission that he doesn’t see anything wrong with hitting women, Tom Jones’ admission to dozens of acts of adultery, and plenty more, yet we brush it aside and choose to keep them high up on the social pedestal.

Why is that? Does the entertainment value we get out of them trump our ability to be angry at them for what they did? Is it because they seem so far removed from us that their actions don’t affect us as much?

When we hear about cases like the ones involving Jill Meagher and Alison Baden-Clay we are outraged and disgusted at the people who hurt them. When we see footage of a bus driver being punched and kicked by a rogue passenger we are furious. We see a video on social media of an innocent person being racially abused on the street and we react angrily, so why don’t we do the same with celebrities.

There are countless celebs who have been caught doing all sorts of things we’d never want to happen to us and yet they still sell tickets to movies and sell out concerts.

With celebrities having such a huge impact on our lives these days – in the sense that they are on our television, in our magazines and on our computer screens – it begs the question why we are so willing for forgive and forget.

Celebrities seem to have an especially large impact on the younger generation these days. Even more so than when we baby boomers where teenagers, celebrities are held in a position of high esteem with teens mimicking their style, their language and even their attitude.

Imagine if we treated these celebrities with the same disgust and anger we did to others who commit crimes. Would they be less inclined to act so bratty and think they can get away with bad behaviour?

And if they acted better, would our younger generation be more inclined to follow in their footsteps and behave better when it comes to things like this.

While there have been calls in the past for people to boycott the movies and shows and celebrities who behave badly, it seems our desire to be entertained and our adoration of the rich and famous wins out nine times out of 10.

Do you think celebrities get away with too much? Would you ever boycott a star because of their behaviour?