These years doctors, lawyers and accountants seem no longer ideal occupations for teenagers. Top models, movie stars and singers are. The star business is an increasingly popular career option among the new generation. The road to a superstar is no easy task, though. With the great market behind, a new kind of showbiz occupation has emerged. It is the young model, or ‘liang-mo’ in Cantonese, providing a much shorter path to a famous public figure. In spite of the success of these models, a considerable portion of the public criticizes the phenomenon by saying that pseudo-models are bad examples to children. They hold the same opinion as I do.
It is not a sin to pursue a career in the entertainment sector, nor is it a sin to realize our dreams. What matters is the intention hiding deep inside our hearts. Many young models first entered the field just because they wanted to earn quick money. Some of them have low education standard so being a pseudo-model seems to be an ideal job for them as little (or no) education qualification is required. Indeed, I heard that one model, Rainbow, was even proud of her single-digit HKCEE result, because she thought that exam results couldn’t stop her from being a ‘top model’. These girls are telling youngsters that education is not a big deal, and that making a promising career is easy. However, this is not the truth. While many teens consider the job as a real bargain, it actually comes with an unaffordable price. The girls are earning quick money at the expense of their self-image. They usually have to wear sexy outfits and let the fans take photos of them during the events. It seems to me that they are quite willing to be a mere figure without spirit. Very often the role of the pseudo-models is only to attract a larger crowd of spectators to a particular event. In order to catch more attention, they may need to take suggestive postures, which are regarded by critics as ‘bad taste’. From my point of view, it is completely not worthwhile to be a pseudo-model.
Apart from materialistic thoughts, some young models solely want to prove their existence by standing under the lime light. The winner of one recent young model contest once said that she would like to show to the world that she existed somewhere in time and space on this planet. How ridiculous! It is worrying to know that some teenagers have such a low self-esteem that they are afraid of not being recognized as an existing person. The misconception must be corrected by the concerted effort of schools and parents. Otherwise, the attitude will be instilled in more youngsters’ minds. We should bear in mind that being famous is not the way out. The only solution of low self-esteem is to accept oneself and acknowledge one’s own existence. We exist not because of others, but ourselves.
Many teen models do not realize that the short-cut they have taken may have a dead end. While they are busy enjoying their actualized dream, they may not notice that it is not long lasting. Their life cycles of young models are particularly short compared with ‘genuine’ models or actors since they are not professionals. The modeling company can always recruit cheaper and younger teens when they find the young models ‘too old’. Every year numerous new models are introduced. Some existing pseudo-models will have their names vanished from the C1 news headline forever. After all the career is not as promising as teenagers think. Why should we be obsessed with this short-lived job and forgo the brighter paths ahead?
Undeniably, some young models, like Angelababy and Chrissie Chow, do succeed in the field by upgrading themselves to a professional level. However, we must never overlook the countless names which have already been forgotten, and the prices they have paid in a failed effort to secure a place in the showbiz. It is high time we woke up from our dreams and continue our life journey with honour and wisdom.