I Don't Envy Arashi

Yes, they do have a good life-- I mean basically they are employed, they travel, they get to use their artistic talents, they are adored by millions and opportunities that normally wouldn't be available to them unless they were idols are becoming more and more frequent, but of course there are the down sides. The long hours, the monotony, the stress both physical and mental, --hell basically they have little private life really, but luckily what they do have is pretty private.

Then of course you have these so called "scandals" they keep popping up. Nicee and I think it's very likely Kitagawa-san's PR department. PR is a vicious business sometimes. I worked in it for 8 years so I do have first hand knowledge. It's very underhanded and dirty at times. They do what they feel they need to irregardless of their clients.
Sadly, it usually works too. It's also one of the reason I'm not in that business anymore.

Observing Arashi and Johnny's Jimusho in general is a very interesting thing psychologically. I think we've all heard of the "Child Star Syndrome." Just look at the Hollywood child stars and the crap that happened to them.

On one hand, Johnny's have very little of the drug and alcohol abuse that we associate with Hollywood Child Stars (that we know of, since Japan is pretty famous for it's liberal alcohol use it's unlikely that if the members of SMAP got drunk every night, it would make headlines..unless they did something totally outrages while drunk) though of course underage drinking is a big No No for Johnny's

But on the other hand, Johnny's aren't permitted to date in the open. Something totally unheard of in Hollywood today. Back in the old Hollywood Studio system, yes, they had managers or handlers who made sure your fans didn't know who you dated or if you even got married. Fans didn't like it so studios gave the fans what they wanted because it meant they'd see more profit in their pockets. Sound familiar?

Run-in's with the law are a constant if you are a child star in Hollywood. Of course I refer to people like Lohan and Spears as Child Stars only because they started out as children in the business and their behavior manifested itself in the late teenage and early adult years. Unlike Drew Barrymore, who was in deep shit at age 14 for drug and alcohol abuse.

We don't hear of any big arrests in Johnny's. Sure Jin's been in trouble and lord know that crap that happened early on with NewS probably had a whiff of the law attached to it but nothing compared to Danny Bonaduci soliciting a female transvestite in Hollywood!

Okay, so really this is comparing apples and oranges. Fruitless..ha ha..fruitless..I made a funny..ermm.ok..moving on. I think it really boils down to culture differences.

Anway, I love Arashi and I hope the 5 of them find themselves either now or in the future with a strong, stable family enviroment and lots of love. They've been through a lot..and there is more to come.

Just remember..the more they build you up..the faster they want to tear you down. And that's fandom in a nutshell. Full of love and Full of hate. Silly really.

Something my hubby said once that I think I believe to: "They are there to entertain me. I don't give a crap what they do when they aren't on-screen or singing or whatever. Their life is their life. I've got my own bullshit to deal with, I don't need to see theirs." He wasn't referring to Arashi but celebrities in general.

And if you just read this entire entry..bless your heart and thank you.

Now let's look at a pic of our kawaii boys:

350px-Arashi_Group