Christien Louviere

“I have failed as a role model.”

On taking time off to do community service, “I’ve decided to do this to give myself an opportunity to heal myself and to search my soul.”

Can you imagine if these words came out of the mouths of Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan, or how about the NFL’s Adam “Pacman” Jones?

These words came out of the mouth of Asian entertainer Edison Chen. Most people on this side of the world had no idea who he was until the story broke here late last week. I read it in the WSJ on Friday. He’s described by Westerners as a 27-year old Asian Eminem. Sex photos of him with various women were released and circulated. Things are much different in Hong Kong as the photos are being recouped and people are being arrested. Maybe we should send our bad celebrities to Hong Kong for a few months each time they mess up. Then, we should embrace the ones that are doing well because I bet there are many of those.

All of these entertainers are in Gen Y and all of them pay the price for having the spotlight on them. However, in America, a typical American Gen-Y is probably asking, “Why is Edison Chen taking responsibility for his actions and issuing self-imposed punishment? Why does a gang (the Triads) want to slice one of his hands from his arm?” On the contrary, I’m always curious why we don’t hold more of our celebrities accountable. Based on the standards set in Hong Kong, Paris Hilton would’ve been fed caned a long time ago. America is a great nation because it is always giving people a second chance, but we still don’t hold people accountable for their actions. I think my generation is a great one; and like all other previous up and coming generations, we are misunderstood by our predecessors. However, I feel like this is one area that we missed the boat.

Maybe it’s not just Gen Y though. I feel like there is something going on America. What is it? Most of us have a price to pay to get to where we want to go. Why is someone like Hilton not dismissed as irrelevant? The only thing she seems to be is pretty. I’m sure she’s nice; but I know at least ten women that look better and are doing much more with their lives. Does no one want to earn it anymore? To me, it seems like their used to be a pride in keeping one’s name good; but now, it seems like it’s acceptable to Band-Aid your name repeatedly. I feel like we have forgotten than there is more to this world than ourselves. How did we get here?