#round of applause for the one direction boys being alive and sane right now

[james-winston]

Several years ago I started researching to make a long post about the impact fame had on The Beatles, but I never got around to finishing it. What always stuck with me though is just how dangerous fame is. Fame literally killed John. Chapman initially planned to shoot someone else, but considered John more famous. George’s attempted murder in 2000 surely sped up his death in 2001. Alcoholism almost destroyed Ringo in the 70′s and 80′s. The fact that the worst Paul seems to have come away with is a warped perception of himself and the world is amazing.

Given the small pool of subjects, there's very little research on the psychological impact of extended and profound fame. There's only a handful of people on earth who can even relate to Paul and Ringo’s set of circumstances. One study I read (coincidentally by a guy from Liverpool John Moores University) found that the power you get from fame has a similar impact on the brain as cocaine. The same study also found that if you're famous for more than 5 years your life span shortens by around 20 years.

Obviously the damage caused by fame is on a spectrum, the extreme end being assassination, but all four of The Beatles experienced a myriad of smaller traumas as well. One biographer talked about how John, “couldn’t bear to be touched uninvited by strangers,” and Paul commented on how, “embarrassing,” it was to be grabbed/kissed in public.

George seems to have gotten the worst of it by far. His wife Olivia describes him as having PTSD. After Beatlemania he developed claustrophobia, and would often have recurring nightmares where he would hear people screaming. He hated loud noises and “didn’t want to be startled.” He worried about being assassinated due to the constant death threats. Michael Palin describes walking down the street with George who would often begin, “getting a little twitchy [like] an animal in a searchlight.” Tom Petty spoke about George refusing to join him on stage on tour because it was, “so loud and smokey, and they’re acting so crazy.”

When The Beatles landed in America in February 1964, George was 20 years old. Paul was 21. John and Ringo were 23.

not to be a beatles fan on main but I just sat through the first part of the new Get Back series and like. the older I get the more traumatizing fame seems. I can't even be mad at these guys for their shitty personalities because the situation they live in is so unbelievably damaging that any insane behavior you can imagine would be downright predictable. they need to go to one of those sanctuaries for entertainment animals who should never have been in a circus in the first place