{"id":62702,"date":"2024-03-20T01:29:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T05:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=62702"},"modified":"2024-02-28T09:58:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T14:58:29","slug":"stuck-in-the-starmaker-machinery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2024\/03\/20\/stuck-in-the-starmaker-machinery\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Stuck in the Starmaker Machinery’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Unlike many, Joni Mitchell was wary of the \u2018starmaker machinery behind the popular song\u2019.\u00a0 \u00a0She was an artist, a poet, a singer, but the idea of being a star or being idolized she wanted to hold at arm length and rightly so.\u00a0 It is not only a mistake to want to be idolized, it\u2019s a mistake to go beyond admiring a person\u2019s good traits, skills or talents, to treating them with a form of borderline idolatry, ignoring all their sins and bad traits.\u00a0 And of course the sad truth is, things like Beatlemania, or Swiftmania are not merely unhealthy they isolate the musician in question, and prevent them from living a normal life, or even having a private or personal life.\u00a0 And of course things like People magazine, and the paparazzi just make matters worse.\u00a0 The same thing happens to sports figures who do well and achieve remarkable success.\u00a0 \u00a0One thing that is particularly sad is when performers become a parody of themselves later in life.\u00a0 So it\u2019s understandable why Joni and many others try to get away from the madding crowd, as in the song \u2018a free man in Paris\u2019, unfettered and alive, no one calling her up for favors.\u00a0 \u00a0It takes a strong person to not become a distorted image of themselves due to unfettered idolizing of that person by \u2018fans\u2019 (short for fanatics).\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus did not seek to have fans, he sought to have disciples who would learn from him, and follow his moral example.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s hard for successful Christian nmusicians or sports figures to do that these days.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unlike many, Joni Mitchell was wary of the \u2018starmaker machinery behind the popular song\u2019.\u00a0 \u00a0She was an artist, a poet, a singer, but the idea of being a star or being idolized she wanted to hold at arm length and rightly so.\u00a0 It is not only a mistake to want to be idolized, it\u2019s a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":60464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14306],"class_list":["post-62702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-idolatry"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>'Stuck in the Starmaker Machinery'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=a4Zm6mq5UcE Unlike many, Joni Mitchell was wary of the 'starmaker machinery behind the popular song'.\u00a0 \u00a0She was an artist,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Stuck in the Starmaker Machinery'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=a4Zm6mq5UcE 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