Celebrity Culture
Celebrity culture refers to the societal phenomenon where individuals gain fame and admiration, often through the media's portrayal of their lives, achievements, and personas. Traditionally, celebrities emerged from fields like film, music, sports, and business, but in the twenty-first century, reality television has introduced a new wave of public figures who attain celebrity status. This culture is characterized by a fascination with the wealthy and famous, which has intensified with the rise of the internet and instant access to celebrity news. Media outlets and popular magazines have played a significant role in making celebrity culture widely accessible and appealing to the public.
While celebrities can serve as role models for many, their influence can have both positive and negative implications, depending on their actions and the nature of their fame. The phenomenon of “celebrification” highlights how individuals can craft their public personas and leverage the media to achieve fame, as seen with figures like Kim Kardashian. Some scholars argue that despite concerns about the impact of celebrity culture on youth aspirations, young people may actually admire hard work and skills over mere fame. Overall, the intersection of fame and media continues to shape contemporary society, prompting discussions about the values and behaviors that celebrities embody and promote.
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Subject Terms
Celebrity Culture
Celebrity culture is a culture based on the popularization or idealization of people on whom celebrity status has been awarded. The media are a primary source of promoting famous people. Celebrities have traditionally been members of the theater and film world, the pop scene, the dance stage, the modeling world, and the sports arena. Included are the wealthy or businesspeople who have innovated or succeeded in a particular field. Politicians have received celebrity status, and some celebrities have become politicians. Ronald Reagan, who served as president of the United States for two terms, from 1981 to 1989, was initially a famed movie star. In the twenty-first century, a new form of celebrity status was bestowed upon certain reality series stars. Indeed, another US president, Donald Trump, saw his celebrity status soar after appearing on the reality competition series The Apprentice (2004–17). Celebrities have been and continue to be sources of role models for adolescents, young adults, and other admirers. Depending on the context of their fame, this has the potential of being either positive or negative, given the fact that celebrity is not always accrued as a result of healthy or positive behavior. The paparazzi follow celebrities with the intention of snapping shots of them off guard, in order to sell these to the media at high prices.
Background
The 1980s introduced a proliferation of media, contributing to the spread of celebrity culture. This was fueled by the twenty-first century's rise of the internet and subsequent media globalization. Instantaneously, with the click of a button or the swipe of a finger, the latest celebrity news became accessible. Society became increasingly preoccupied with the rich and famous, oftentimes being swept up by the constant information appearing wherever one turned. Some scholars suggest that while society began to endow celebrities with great meaning, the individuals doing so did not stop to ask why they were needing to find out about that person. The fact that they were famous appeared to be reason enough, and the public visibility, especially due to the media, created sufficient context.
Popular magazines such as People and Entertainment Weekly soared in popularity, bringing celebrity culture into American homes, and soon its availability on digital platforms gave users instant access to the latest celebrity news. American Media Inc. (AMI) claims to own and operate the leading celebrity and health and fitness brands in America. Its National Enquirer was the first weekly magazine to publish celebrity news.
The public as consumers are partners in the drama of celebrity life. Memorabilia are purchased and collected, clothes such as the celebrity wears are bought, and personal items that bear recognition of the fame or famed person are readily acquired.
Celebrity Culture Today
Today, the media continue to publish imagery and news of the latest stars. "Celebrification" has become a word synonymous with the notion of celebrity within a particular context. News that is sensational in nature gives rise to the concept of tabloidization.
The term celebrity culture is a relatively new phenomenon of contemporary life. Celebrity imagery in all manifestations appears to be pervasive globally. Whether it is a photograph in a magazine or instant news updates of celebrity life, a celebrity endorsing a product, or a star getting involved in humanitarian concerns, society is flooded with celebrity culture.
Friedman posits that Oscar Wilde created celebrity culture (www.huffingtonpost.com). Wilde marketed himself, traveling by various means, to present his artistry in public. His determination to sell himself as a star and to become famous was a single-minded goal that he pursued relentlessly. Friedman suggests that reality stars like Kim Kardashian follow the same path as Wilde, decades later, knowing the power of the media to create fame. The devising of a "groundbreaking strategy for manufacturing fame" (Friedman) is the same format used by Wilde and by self-made stars in the twenty-first century, knowingly or not.
Alain de Botton proclaims that "a stern moralist may say one shouldn't need celebrity endorsement of good causes—but in the real world, it's wise to exalt the likes of Angelina Jolie" (www.theguardian.com). He suggests that using a term such as "celebrity culture" dismisses the potential goodness possible, and that such admiration can be channeled fruitfully. By Angelina Jolie, Hollywood's top earning female star, visiting and helping impoverished people in Africa, people may be motivated to follow suit. de Botton believes in the value of copying for positive reasons, suggesting that celebrities may make topics such as "reading, being kind, forgiving and working towards social justice" admirable things to do.
Allen, Harvey, and Mendick (www.theguardian.com) counteract the argument by education ministers who blame "low aspiration" in young people on celebrity culture. They suggest that celebrity culture may have become the contemporary "folk devil" whereas in reality, there is no evidence that youth have an obsessive predilection for fame. On the contrary, they assert that young people admire skills and hard work in celebrities and are critical when this is not the case.
Some writers have questioned the definitions of fame and celebrity, implying a disparity between the two. Epstein (The Weekly Standard) defines fame as being based on true achievement, and "celebrity on the broadcasting of that achievement, or the inventing of something that, if not scrutinized too closely, might pass for achievement." He equates celebrity with ephemerality and fame as having a chance of lasting.
Bibliography
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