Iris Apfel by Iris Apfel

Author:Iris Apfel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-01-17T05:00:00+00:00

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Iris Apfel

Photo Credit: Halfpoint/Shutterstock

The Fame Game

THE CULT OF CELEBRITY (a word I hate), is a sad commentary on our society. It’s almost like as fast as technology evolves, the human race devolves. Reality shows are dreadful and allow people to live in someone else’s image. You can turn on your phone and follow a famous person’s life almost to the extent that you are living it. Whatever happened to the cultivation of an inner self? It’s painful and it’s work, but it always pays off.

The obsession with the superficial reminds me of all the young ladies I went to school with who were pretty—the girls who had perfect hair, the ones who dated the football players, the prom queens. Because they were pretty, they relied totally on their looks to get along. And they didn’t grow in any other way, unlike girls who looked like me, who realized they had to develop themselves in other ways to get along in the world.

To be known and admired for giving something to the planet or helping people is one thing, but for me, that’s where the intrigue with fame ends. Being famous just for being famous is ridiculous; it doesn’t make a person memorable or interesting. I’ve met celebrities and have forgotten them just as fast as hello because they had nothing much to say. There are a lot of people who are memorable to me for any number of reasons—humor, intelligence, the way they always tell a good story—and it doesn’t matter to me if anyone else knows who they are.

Privacy is a precious commodity and when you’re famous, it becomes elusive. And if you start looking outside yourself for validation, you’re really in trouble.

I didn’t look for recognition. People come to me to do projects and if what they’re asking me to do is new or sounds fun or creative, I’m in. It’s all about the work for me. I like to work, to do new things. If people are interested in my style, amused by my candor, or amazed by the fact that I’m still out there hoofing it in my mid-nineties, that’s great, but I never had any intention of becoming a role model on aging. I believe we are put on this earth to do something. If you stop using your brain at any age, it is going to atrophy and eventually stop working. It’s harder when you get older, but you just have to do it. Why curl up in a ball and wait to die?

I’ve become increasingly recognized in the years since Rara Avis, through the press and all that. But Iris, the documentary Albert Maysles made about me, pushed the public recognition into another sphere altogether when it was released in 2015. At first, I wasn’t going to do it; I didn’t really want a film crew dragging around behind me, and I couldn’t really see what would be so intriguing about my life, if you want to know the truth.

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