Fame

I was reading an article about a young Chinese American man who's memoirs got bought by a major network and turned into a show. He was very matter of fact about the racism and fear that changed his story into something palatable to the US audience. But you could hear the desperation and anger behind his words. He'd become famous, at the expense of everything he held to be true. People loved the story they were fed, not his story.
It was, honestly, extremely sad, though he wrote it in a biting, wonderfully sarcastic tone.

It made me wonder anybody would want to be famous in this society. Anybody with an actual story to tell, at least.

You can't be famous in this world unless you're thoroughly processed through the filter of media. And media has a vested interest in maintaining the level of stupid. Because stupid is cheap, and fast, and sells. Stupid is the fast food of the entertainment world, and the media that makes you famous also must make you stupid.
They'll tell you what you need to become in order to be remotely accepted by the mainstream, and they'll be right. They know what the mainstream wants, and they'll help you become that.
But they have no idea what the mainstream needs, because they are driven by want, not by need. They help MAKE want need, but that's not the natural order of things. So they have to constantly work at it, constantly shore up a crumbling bulwark of shallow desires that keep people watching and hoping for more.

God. No. Just... no. Lord save me from fame, if it ever comes knocking on my door.