A prevailing
celebrity culture in modern society is changing who we listen to and why. Thanks
to social media and global convergence, the popularizing of certain people who
have particular attributes that are deemed socially exceptional and desirable
is becoming increasingly more common. As a result, a culture of celebrity
worship is rapidly spreading its way across the globe and altering traditional
values and ethics. So this begs the question, are we receiving the right
messages? This blog will critically examine celebrity culture and will seek to
explore whether or not an emerging celebrity culture in society is doing more
harm than good.
Sterheimer (2011)
defines celebrity culture as the
ephemeral atmosphere that surrounds fame, and includes the personal lives of
the famous and the products sold directly or indirectly on the idea that their
use will make the consumer be more like the celebrated. Evidence of this
culture is all around us. Every time we turn on the television, open a
magazine, listen to the radio and trawl through our favorite webpages we are
bombarded by celebrity endorsements. Celebrities are telling us what me must
have, what will make our lives better and how we can be more like them.
An example of
the prevailing celebrity culture in society is Michelle Bridges’ 12 week body transformation
program. It is “a 12 week program that will change your body for the rest of
your life,” according to the celebrity personal trainer Michelle Bridges who has
shot to fame through her involvement in Channel 10’s The Biggest Loser program. Bridges’ endorsement of the program has
already grabbed attention with over 258,000 people “liking” the program and
Brides on Facebook. But what makes this program so popular has nothing to do
with any scientifically proven formula that gives credibility to the program
actually working, it is because it has been designed by Bridges, the famous
personal trainer who helps obese people lose weight on a reality television
show.
The growing
trend of popularizing certain people who have particular attributes that society
deem exceptional has instilled itself into many disciplines of life affecting
the way in which society receives and interprets
information (Marshall 2010: 458). This has been greatly aided by the advent of
social media and increasing levels of global convergence. Due to globalization,
the world is increasingly becoming smaller and smaller with traditional
barriers now being overcome. As a result, cultural diversity is spreading
across the globe and influencing the nature of traditional social, cultural,
environmental, political and economic practices. A global marketplace has well
and truly emerged resulting in shared values and customs becoming more
commonplace across countries. This has helped to spread celebrity culture
throughout society.
Thanks largely to the rise of social media,
the way in which information flows and gets absorbed is now changing. Old media
and new media are colliding with the traditional audience now also becoming the
source of news and information. Social media websites like Twitter, Facebook
and YouTube allow anyone to publish content and voice an opinion that can
instantly be shared with the rest of the world. This is the single biggest
factor in the rise of celebrity culture. People no longer have to rely on
traditional media such as television, newspapers and radio to connect with an
audience, it is now possible to connect with the entire globe through the click
of a button on a computer whilst sitting in your living room. As a result, it
is possible for anyone to say anything and spread their message to a large
global audience. The message being distributed doesn’t have to be correct
either so there is a worrying lack of accountability as there is often very
little or no consequences for what is published through social media forums.
The reason celebrity culture is damaging is
because we are listening to and popularizing people who are famous for being
famous. A classic example of this is the Kardashian family. The family shot to
prominence thanks to the creation of a reality television program which started
on the back of the publicity the family received following the release of a sex
tape involving one of their daughters, Kim. The family is not famous because
they have made a significant contribution to society, or because they are the
most intelligent people in the world, they are famous because an audience
watches a show that follows their daily lives.
According to Bentley (2011) the culture of
celebrity worship has lead to women veering off track into a culture of
empty-headed narcissism. This is in reference to a survey that young women
would rather win a television beauty contest than the Nobel Peace Prize. As a
result, some very intelligent
younger women are dumbing down to appear hotter and cuter and putting their
looks and image above their brains – the reason being because ''hot'' is seen
to be desirable (Bentley 2011). This is a worrying concern and an example of
why celebrity culture is so damaging.
The power of celebrities does have some
positives though, particularly in relation to creating awareness. Celebrities
are able to grab the public’s attention and give campaigns the kind of impact
most organizations can only dream off (Cousins 2012). An example of this is Sam
Newman’s interview with 60 Minutes in
2008 after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Newman’s plea for men to “be tested and enjoy life,” had a
profound impact and lead to a surge in prostate cancer awareness.
The reason
for this, thanks to the prevailing celebrity culture in society, is a tendency
for people to feel a strong emotional connection to celebrities, similar to that
of a family member (Cousins 2012). So a message delivered by a celebrity can
really resonate with a substantial amount of people.
While there are some positive aspects
resulting from an increasingly proficient celebrity culture in our society, a
culture of celebrity worship is doing much more harm than good. Worshiping and
placing greater importance on what is said by people who are famous is damaging
our society. We are receiving messages from the wrong people. We should be
listing to those who are experts in their field and those who have proven to be
credible sources of information. We should not be listening to the people who
are just yelling the loudest and are easiest to hear. Anyone can make noise,
but it is the substance of the noise that is most important.
References:
Bentley, P
2011, Celebrity culture ‘is making
educated women dim-witted’, Mail Online, Retrieved 22nd September
2012, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2004072/Celebrity-culture-making-educated-women-dim-witted.html>
Bridges, M
2012, Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body
Transformation, Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation, Retrieved 30th
August 2012, <http://www.12wbt.com/>
Cousins, S
2012, Start Power, Prostate Cancer
Foundation of Australia, Retrieved 27th September 2012, <http://www.prostate.org.au/articleLive/pages/Star-Power.html>
Marshall, D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Symposium: Celebrity around the World, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502
Sterheimer, K
2011, Celebrity Culture and the American
Dream, Routledge, New York.
