Idol worship a rite of adolescence
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2004-05-24 09:08

Obsessing about favorite stars is a rite of adolescence, one that most parents think is a waste of time. But it is not only a normal part of growing up - it may be healthy, as well.

Fans hold banner supporting their favourite stars. [file photo]

Have you ever spent hours waiting for a famous star at the airport? Screamed wildly at him at a concert? Collected every possible thing you could find about him? Thrill at the mere sight of him?

If so, you are probably what they call an idol worshiper.

Huang Zhaoqi, a 16-year-old girl at a vocational school, is one of them. Even as the passionate songs of Hong Kong pop singer Jordan Chan, who recently held a concert at Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium, still reverberated in her mind, she rushed to another pop star encounter: the concert of Hong Kong pop diva Faye Wong on Friday, her favorite female singer.

"If I had enough money, I would probably support every single tour concert of my idols," Huang smiles. "That's how I express my loyalty and affection as a fan. Everything about the idol is tightly connected with my heart."

Like Huang, there are thousands of teenagers who have their own star idols, just like Huang.

According to a survey conducted by the China Youth and Children's Research Center, of 2,710 adolescents in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou that were interviewed, more than 60 percent can be described as idol worshipers, with junior high school students accounting for a considerable proportion, say 49.3 percent.

The survey also demonstrated the tri-star phenomenon: Pop singers, movie stars and sports stars figured most prominently in the selection of idols by young people.

Yet while the number shows that this is a significant trend for young people, many parents find it difficult to conceal their worry about their children's idol worship.

"It's a waste of time and energy, you know," complains Huang's mother, surnamed Cao. "My daughter's emotions and attentions are entwined with the idol, who, in my mind, has nothing to do with her life. I can't understand what the magic is. All I know is that it makes her wild and distracts her from the studies."

Cao has tried every means to get her daughter refocused on her work, but little worked.

For her part, Huang sniffs. "They don't understand me and I have already given up arguing with them. All they seem to care about are exam scores. They don't know what I really need emotionally," she notes.

Huang's words are echoed by health and social experts, who understand what teenagers have to face nowadays.

"Fierce competition today compels young people to shoulder much more pressure than their predecessors," says Professor Du Yasong, an expert on children's mentality from the Shanghai Mental Health Center. "Teachers, parents and policymakers should not view this with contempt, but as an unavoidable part of growing up. The fact is that everyone can have this experience."

Experts also find that Chinese people are fickle in their taste in idols.

Although adolescent worship of stars in the entertainment and sports industries comes as no surprise these days, admiration of famous politicians, scientists, teachers and public models was the norm several decades ago.

"When I was young, the Chinese hero and heroine, such as Xu Yunfeng and Jiang Zhuyun, in the famous Chinese novel 'Red Rock' were my idols," says Wang Guangdi, a 60-something retired worker. "Their stories greatly inspired me at that time and have left a deep impression."

Wang also agrees that young people's unremitting pursuit of idols should be understood as a symbol of youth. "As an important growing phase, adolescence is full of passion, impulse and inspiration. So an idol is required for release and emotional reliance during that period. Idol worship is a normal emotional demand."

Although experts suggest that parents learn to put their prejudices aside and control their hostility at the sight of their children's swooning for the man on TV or stage, they do point out that excessive infatuation with stars is not wise. It's partly an icon of the worship of beauty and individuality.

"Remote intimacy is all that young people are after," Professor Du says. "But when the passion is out of control and immoderate, something bad can happen, just like those stories we occasionally read in the newspaper, where teenagers did crazy things because of an imagined love for their idol."

Vivian Ji, a 20-something white-collar worker, agrees. Ji even plans on writing a novel depicting the heated idol worship among adolescents.

"I'd like to tell young readers that the real star is not the beautiful face in the distance, but the one with shining virtues just beside you," she says. "The young should spend more time on their studies. It's not wise to confuse reality with imagination and thus neglect their responsibilities in life."

Maybe the point for a balanced and moderate adolescent idol worship is trying to rationalize the irrational by focusing on the attributes of an idol that have made him successful.

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