They say that everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame in a lifetime but some fame is more noteworthy than others. This expression means a short-lived media publicity of an individual. The phrase is credited to Andy Warhol, who included the words “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes” at an exhibition of his art work in Sweden.
Andy Warhol was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertising that flourished by the 1960’s. Andy died at the young age of 58. It is not known if he had his 15 minutes of fame or was his whole life one of continuous fame.
One person in 2013 who definitely had his 15 minutes was Charles Ramsey of Cleveland. He was the neighbour of Ariel Castro, who had held three women and a girl hostage for years. Ramsey helped rescue them with his 911 call. He gave a reporter a detailed account of what happened while using very few words besides ‘bro’, ‘dude’ and ‘dead giveaway’, promptly becoming a YouTube hit.
This question was asked during a 2013 Miss USA Beauty Pageant: “A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families with children, women are the primary earners yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?”
When her big moment came, Marissa Powell, Miss Utah, panicked and stammered incoherently, “To create education better.”
When there were the Chilean miners: The world watched as miners trapped for more than two months finally emerged from the underground mine; sooty, sweaty, and full of spirit. But the drama didn’t stop when the tenacious 33 saw the light of day. One set off a battle between his mistress and his wife. Another became the classic comeback king: the miner who ran in the New York City marathon.
When Britain’s Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle stepped onto the stage, not a single person in the audience expected the frumpy looking woman to have any talent. However, the moment she opened her mouth, the entire crowd went silent. Her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” was so beautiful, the audience started bawling. For a short time, Boyle remained in the spotlight, releasing an album or two before falling back into very wealthy obscurity. Now she spends her days working minimum wage jobs to keep busy.
This Toronto Sun article occurred 38 years ago, and is the premise of the story but not the whole story. It as well, involves two big burly cops who came to my workplace and drove me across town to the distressed lady’s apartment. She allowed me to enter but not them. Inside, I vouched for the officers standing in the hallway and she finally invited them in but not to share a coffee like she had made for me. They just sat and glared. I gathered they knew by now the woman wasn’t a threat to take her life and was only looking for attention. We finally left her in the doctor’s care after one officer got in touch with her psychiatrist. It appeared they weren’t going to drive me back to work until I said, “I need a lift, I’m not familiar with this part of town.” Begrudgingly they did return me back. I was wired for the rest of the day and then the reporter arrived to talk with me, only after receiving a tip from Human Resources. When I saw the newspaper the next morning, I was simply ecstatic. It felt like walking on air with a wave of euphoria on the side. I had never felt so positively visible as at that time.
I learned back then the difference between being happy and experiencing an euphoric moment. One doesn’t cost a dime, the other bigger than life.
