Saving moths from the flame: is TV encouraging hopes and fears?

As I was watching a singing competition on television, one enlightening thought hit me and left me wondering. This young man was about to go on stage, lights were going to shine upon his head. Just imagine for how long he had been dreaming of a moment like that. What a chance he was about to have! Maybe, he would have looked back to that moment in a few years time and thought ‘this is when I got famous‘. Nope, unsuccessful, rejected, nada. Out! There’s an easy way in, it seems. Talent shows give everyone a chance to shine, but even the talented have hard times after the show is over. Countless ‘next big popstars’  hit the screen, win multimillion contracts, record an album and have the time of their lives feeling celebrities. Until the second single flops, they’re dropped by their label and find themselves trying to win their old lives back! How hard must that be? Television, in its most reality studded version, the oracle which promises you the Warhol-prophesised ‘15 minutes of fame‘, can literally bring you up and when it’s done, it brings you down. Literally. More like spit you out. It chews your talent, but gets the best out of you for pure entertainment. Then, you’re on your own. When you push a car, it keeps going for a while, but then it loses pace. You’ve got to hope the ignition works when you switch it on, otherwise you’re just stranded. Somehow, moths cannot stop being drawn to the flame, but do they ever realise sometimes it’s best to turn away from it for their own good? So much more could be said, but I prefer to post a very short story about moths, flames and I hope this tale can inspire some serious thoughts about this matter.

It felt it was about to end her make over now. After spending months hidden away as a worm, it could finally experience what it was like to have wings on its back. It saw crowds of moths leaving the big tree where it was born, only to never return. She thought they were experiencing a new stage of moths’ evolution.
It saw an older moth behind itself, dying of natural causes. “You don’t want to go there, my love”, said the elder one, “the flame is going to kill you and it will only make it brighter!” warned the old one as it was about to leave.
The little moth, now ready to take flight, saw a new bunch of flies and moths who were about to leave and joined them. on their way there, one of them looked at the little moth and said: “I was your age when I wanted to go and see the flame. But the others would not allow me. You’re so lucky you get to go!” sighed the moth sharing its own memories of the past. The young moth was so confused, but they were all approaching the flame.
It was so close, and everyone was so attracted to it. It was blinding them. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind halted the tail of the group as they were flying, consisting of at least a dozen moths, including the young one. Some of them resumed their trail, others stopped. Including the young one.
It witnessed with horror that most of the moths were throwing themselves into the flame, which was in turn becoming more and more brighter. The young moth thought: “This is how it gets brighter. Now the other moths at home will want to come and see”. The vicious circle was exposed to the young moth. The moth behind it said something like “no one is going to turn it off until they realise how bad it is to everyone”, and the young moth nodded and came back home.
the old moth was still there: “I told you. Now go and have fun with the flowers, enjoy the sun. But forget about the flame. I know the night can be dark and lonely, but the sun always comes back.”

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