Celebrity Culture Celebrity culture and the modern day obsession with the seemingly witless entertainment stars are usually complained about frequently, observes David Cox in his article "Celebrity Culture is Natural and Can Be Beneficial”,(2015). It is quite a regular theme, even perhaps ironically, for movies to criticize the intellectual drain amidst society. There exists a notion that society needs to shift its focus of attention more towards intellectually gifted people than entertainment figures. The critical view taken by most still hasn’t abated obsession for celebrities found abundantly in society. David Cox refers to the psychological results from a University of Leicester report showing 216 adults out of 600 adults sampled (36% …show more content…
John Milton displayed his contempt for the state of being famous in his words of fame being "that last infirmity of noble mind”(as cited in Cox, 2015). This view echoed the thoughts of various intellectuals throughout the ages such as Tacitus the Roman historian, St Augustine Christian theologian and Michel de Montaigne the French essayist (Cox, 2015). The inappropriateness within the chase of fame hasn’t exactly been clearly defined. The Greek philosopher Plato explained competing for praise resulting in bending the efforts of labor to please the masses, than focus on the objective of work itself. The risk of deteriorating the social fabric always remains due to this. Will Self describes the loss of expertise to amateurism in a society that values notorious behavior over excellence in a prescribed format (Cox, 2015). A sense of self being is perhaps the most important creation for and by an individual. Heraclitus described fame to be the slaving chain for both mortals and immortals. Dependence on external approval is known to have disastrous results on an individual. Modern academics have concluded a lower sense of well-being amidst individuals driven by praise and recognition in comparison to individuals working to fulfill personal goals (Cox, …show more content…
The most glaring one among them is death. Fame was held to be the main tool for bypassing death in the views of the ancient civilizations. The idea of an individual perishing, but his accomplishments living on through the annals of history have lured countless individuals to it since long time as the Greek poet Homer explained it. This line of thought still persists even in our entertainment(Cox, 2015). The insignificance of the individual as a speck of sand within the larger cosmos as proven by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant has further worked in explaining the phenomena of chasing fame within society. Being perishable, as well as having a risk of not amounting to much is an idea that cannot be swallowed easily by any individual. Even though the impacts may be managed by it, the stern indifference of the universe may not be entirely addressed by fame (Cox, 2015). The loneliness within the vast, empty space and indifferent space is unbearable and humanity continuously works to counter it. Famous individuals see their marriages broken but revel in the love and attention given to them by followers. The followers enjoy interacting with their celebrities. Today, more interest is taken in celebrities’ lives rather than relations or friends. Family and community life degradation with time has not hampered in people commenting on the lives of their favorite celebrities on various outlets for expression such
Every day in our lives, we desire to be perfect to please others. No matter how hard we try, if we do not achieve the concept of being perfect, then we will feel like failure. For example, every year at the Olympics, a newly crowned Olympic champion receiving a gold medal persuades young athletes to worry about winning a medal in every competition they compete. If they do not win a medal in a certain competition, then all their hopes are vanished for the next competition. This action shows how if we do not strive to emulate other people’s achievements, then we will not stand out from the rest of our population.
“When Sonny Boy’s mama died he played nonstop all day, so hard our backboard splintered.” (Komunyakaa). Though out history all fame can be summed up by the act of love of something. Driving factors can be love for a parent, such as in the quotes above. Sonny Boy pushed himself through the sport of basketball to cope with his mother’s death. The love of your country/ land such as the Native Americans when fighting for Americans not to take and tarnish the land they respected and loved so much, fame was achieved by both parties of the war when American children learn about it in history classes today. Finally people can have the love of themselves to achieve fame, travelers moved west to make a better life for themselves and wanting to make
All fame begins when you do something noticeable. For example, actors and actresses build upon their careers and reputations by achieving excellence in their personal goals, as well as perfecting their public performance.
celebrity may be found in the words of one of America’s Founding Fathers, John Adams, who wrote, ‘‘The rewards . . . in this life are steem and admiration of others—the punishments are neglect and contempt. The desire of the esteem of others is as real a want of nature as hunger—and the neglect and contempt of the world as severe as a pain.” (Price, 463). The author suggests that fame is not at all w...
In a world where billionaires and celebrities can have more influence over the public than government, the word power has become interchangeable with success. Although many of us have fantasized of our lives if we were famous, the majority of the population have given up on the notion of becoming famous, and have become more realistic towards future dreams and desires. However, what qualities drive people of fame to do things that keep their name out in the eye of the public? People desire power. Genuine power is the ability to influence.
“Posts.” Fame is a dangerous Drug: A Phenomenological Glimpse of Celebrity.” N.p. ,n.d. Web 15. Feb 2014
The star text of a celebrity can help to decipher their image and transitions they may undergo. In order to better understand these transitions, one must know the definition of a star text. A star text is the sum of everything we affiliate with celebrities, which includes their body of work, promotion, publicity, and audience participation (Jackson, 08/09/16). One must note that “celebrity doesn 't happen because someone has extraordinary qualities – it is discursively constructed by the way in which the person is publicised and meanings about them circulate” (O 'Shaughnessy and Stadler 424). Destiny Hope Cyrus, “an American singer and actress, became a sensation in the television series
A celebrity is not a person known for his/her talent or achievement, but an individual recognized for his/her reputation created by the media. The phase of stardom is slippery, and media may choose to represent celebrities varying from exaggerated admiration to mockery. The three texts chosen, movie "Sunset Boulevard", feature article "Over the Hilton" and television show "Celebrity Uncensored Six" are texts presenting different perception of celebrities than their usual images - either corrupted by the encircling media, overloads oneself with self-indulgence, or just mocks celebrity in a broad spectrum. Such media items empower and impresses the audience by perceiving celebrities as people who pay the price of privacy to gain well knowness, signifying the vanity of stardom from the commonly accepted images.
In his article Stars as a Cinematic Phenomenon, he used the ‘photo effect’ conception of Roland Barthes to examine the present/ absent paradox of stars. He proposed influential qualitative distinctions in between stardom in films and television. He argued that ‘Stars are incomplete images outside the cinema: the performance of the film is the moment of completion of images in subsidiary circulation, in newspapers, fanzines, etc. Further, a paradox is present in these subsidiary forms. The star is at once ordinary and extraordinary, available for desire and unattainable. This paradox is repeated and intensified in cinema by the regime of presence-yet-absence that is the filmic image’(1992). Therefore, the impractical mode of ‘this is was’ on nature of stardom ‘awakens a series of psychic mechanisms which involve various impossible images’, such as ‘the narcissistic experience of the mirror phase’(1992). Ellis then continued to indicate televisual stardom, which is more current or ‘immediate’ than cinematic fame. He argued that ‘What television does present is the “personality”. The personality is someone who is famous for being famous and is famous only in so far as he or she makes frequent television appearances… In some ways, they are the opposite of stars, agreeable voids rather than sites of conflicting meanings’. Ellis’ thesis definitely points out the differences between cinema and television fame, due to the multimedia and transmedia of current era implies a much more diverse and unpredictable relationship in between stars’ images in any kind of
The world is an extraordinary one of a kind place; as it provides us with all of the necessary means for life. In a similar fashion, the same concept applies to people, especially to the individuals that are viewed as different or are considered out of the social norm. Even so, every extraordinary person has an origin, just like an ordinary person. Be it a freak, nerd, or genius, they’re all considered an outlier in their own unique ways and talent is an attribute that differentiates an outlier from the average person. A person doesn’t have to conform to social-cultural norms to be a positive influence in society as demonstrated through Johnny Depp’s artistic performance. For instance, Depp is a perfect example of someone who is considered
Society always wants to keep an eye on their favorite celebrities’ life. It is fundamental. Every little detail the public wants to follow like what and where they are eating, whom they will marry, or what they are doing all day –such a vicious cycle.
The celebrity gossip industry has affected our assumptions about entertainment. Usually, we assume that entertainment is just for fun, entertainment is only a reflection of our culture, and entertainment is a personal choice. Nowadays, entertainment is not just for fun. Celebrities entertain us in many ways, but sometimes we do not enjoy what they do yet we still watch them. For instance, many teen idols have had meltdowns. Although it is not fun to...
Hollywood is known to be the home of many celebrities, ranging from musicians, actors to models. The celebrity life is something everyone wishes to live. Driving big cars, living in mansions and having attendants to attend to various needs all seem to be something to make life easy and comfortable. Despite all the love that is shown to the celebrities, the celebrities live a life of intense scrutiny. The common people, who are their fans, keep track of every single detail of their life. Each short coming is noticed and put on the limelight with the help of the media who are the main information givers on every move celebrities make. “The paparazzi, in turn, have become watch dogs who never let them out of our sight, staking out their gyms,
...e those fantasies in depth and live either the rich or the famous life style with both its positives and negatives, some people might change their minds about being rich or famous or even both. They would rather choose to have a normal lifestyle but be in touch with their loved ones and live a less stressful life where they don’t have to put media and the public’s interest before their own. As discussed previously, there are many differences in the defining a rich person and a famous person. The main difference would be that being rich is having lots of money, and being famous is being well known to the public. Being famous comes with many rewards and minuses which do cause a stressful lifestyle as a result. Being rich also comes with many advantages that makes living life a lot easier and nicer in many ways, but does come with many disadvantages in a lot of cases.
Movie stars. They are celebrated. They are perfect. They are larger than life. The ideas that we have formed in our minds centered on the stars that we idolize make these people seem inhuman. We know everything about them and we know nothing about them; it is this conflicting concept that leaves audiences thirsty for a drink of insight into the lifestyles of the icons that dominate movie theater screens across the nation. This fascination and desire for connection with celebrities whom we have never met stems from a concept elaborated on by Richard Dyer. He speculates about stardom in terms of appearances; those that are representations of reality, and those that are manufactured constructs. Stardom is a result of these appearances—we actually know nothing about them beyond what we see and hear from the information presented to us. The media’s construction of stars encourages us to question these appearances in terms of “really”—what is that actor really like (Dyer, 2)? This enduring query is what keeps audiences coming back for more, in an attempt to decipher which construction of a star is “real”. Is it the character he played in his most recent film? Is it the version of him that graced the latest tabloid cover? Is it a hidden self that we do not know about? Each of these varied and fluctuating presentations of stars that we are forced to analyze create different meanings and effects that frame audience’s opinions about a star and ignite cultural conversations.