As if you'd just walk away from fame & fortune?
At the end, everyone wanting him....he walks away? Someone who's been craving fortune and a respected career? Nah
shareWell that was the point - the price of fame just wasn’t worth it. Endless humiliation and surrounded by blood-sucking sycophants. No real friends. Plus it turned Andy into a terrible human being, it took his soul.
shareI guess the original poster thinks materialism is what makes water gush from the rock. It isn't.
You can't become happy by just indulging in materialistic pleasure, hedonistically satisfying your every, EVERY need. You just can't.
This is why wealth, fame, etc. is a TRAP. It looks glamorous, enviable fun to outsiders, but you can't even count how many celebrities have had serious problems, including drugs, marital, relationship, existential, mental health, etc.. the list goes on and on and on.
If fame and wealth was enough to make one happy, surely any rich celebrity would be 100% happy all the time, without any serious problems. Someone said they'd rather cry in a Ferrari than in a cardboard box, even if money doesn't bring happiness, but even this statement is pretty materialistic and stupid.
The thing is, I'd rather be happy alone in a mud hut in the middle of nowhere than miserable in a big mansion with servants that even wipe my buttocks.
There's a reason why Enlightened Zen Masters exist, there's a reason why all major religions have always had the same virtues; there's a reason why it was written that it's easier for a camel to go through a needle loop than for a rich man to get to the kingdom of heavens.
The thing about money, wealth, fame, etc. is that people don't understand what it does to the soul, they don't realize how much it can tear you down. It's like .. now you are SUPPOSED to be happy, but what if you don't know how.. you get stressed, right? You have already reached the biggest end goal possible, you have finished the game, but you don't get the satisfying ending demo. What now?
What are you supposed to do when you are not happy even though you did all the things you thought would make you happy?
Studies have shown that even lottery winners do not remain happy for very long; if I remember it correctly, it varies somewhat, but let's say from one to three months is perhaps the maximum.
Maybe some people's happiness level rises for a year or three, but eventually, they come crashing down.
How can you rise up your happiness with money, fame and wealth? At some point, the money offers you nothing, because you have already indulged in everything you can, you have already travelled everywhere, bought everything, done everything, met everyone. People are still idiots and jerks, existence is still painful misery, your fancy car doesn't make you feel better, buying more stuff just feels.. stuffy.
Someone crying in a Ferrari might not realize that by letting go, they would receive energy from the Universe, by doing good deeds, they will start healing themselves, so without the Ferrari, they might not even NEED to cry.
Money, wealth, gold, etc.. CHAINS you. It's a prison. You can't get out of it, because it would require tremendous willpower to just give it up, or a spiritual insight that would make it easy. Most people just can't give up their millions, they can't let go. So the money owns them, just like Tyler said in a movie. The more you own, the more energy you have to give to the thing you own. You have to think about it, maintain it, and even if you don't, it's in the back of your mind, 'waiting to be used' or something. Anyone can experience this in small scale by buying things they intend to use, but somehow never end up using - they might start feeling guilty for not using it.
They see it every day on the table, but they never use it.. it consumes their energy this way.
Now imagine this times 1000 or 10000.. how much energy would you have left after 800 different objects or possessions like that? If you buy a car, there are insurances and taxes and all kinds of crap to consider, as car dealerships are disgusting exploiters, and won't sell cars normally. Even then, you might only get the car, but not the allodial title, which the government still has (which is why a car can be reposessed so easily, but your shoes can't).
Considering all this, yes, it's very feasible and imaginable that someone would let go of their misery and exchange it for a simple life that brings them joy.
As the old Zen Koan says, "Poverty is your treasure. Never exhange it for easy life."