America loves its celebrities. We follow them on Twitter, we read magazines plastered with their faces, and we feel the need to put posters of their bodies on our walls. We consider them American royalty, and the public expects them to act as regally as real kings and queens.

But celebrities often don’t live up to our high moral expectations. Rihanna’s decision to get back together with Chris Brown after he turned her face into his own personal punching bag in 2009 started a public outcry of disapproval.

People believed that her choice would influence girls to get back together with their abusive boyfriends. Say whatever you want about Rihanna’s personal choices, but it is completely unfair to blame the choice of others on her.

People have this idea that celebrities, simply because they are in the public eye, somehow owe it to us to be morally upstanding and fit within the narrow confines of what society deems acceptable.

They owe us nothing.

Nowhere in the process of becoming famous did entertainers enlist as the moral gatekeepers of America. Yet we expect every move they make to be socially acceptable because little girls and boys look up to them.

Furthermore, the way our media-obsessed generation mimics the bad decisions of Hollywood is a sign that we need to reevaluate the role celebrities play in our lives.

Artists become famous because they are pretty, marketable, and possibly even talented. Not because they are kind, selfless or possess any number of desirable moral qualities.

In the end, movie stars’ and musicians’ contribution to society is entertainment and we should them on the basis of that, and that alone. We should praise or critique their musical or theatrical work, not what their personal lives look like. Besides, there are many people who make much better role models than the famous and pretty starlets.

Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager who campaigns against the Taliban in support of education for girls, should be a role model. Seventeen-year-old Angela Zhang, who developed a new cancer treatment for her science fair project, should be a role model. And the parents, teachers, and coaches across the globe who interact with today’s youth every day make better role models than any stranger, no matter how well-known, ever could.

Ultimately, no famous figure can make us do anything — we make our own choices. But if we begin to idolize those who display noble qualities, instead of the rich and famous, perhaps their virtue will rub off on us.