Fame and being
famous has well and truly changed over the years. In 2012, it is becoming
increasingly harder to see or understand what defines a celebrity. As
individuals have greater access to delve into the lives of the so-called elite
at the touch of button. Back forty years or so a celebrity was acknowledged as
someone who did something that they should be recongised from a great sporting
achievement or not producing hit songs, a well known celebrity band back 35-40
years were the Beatles. Compare the well-deserved popularity of the Beatles
with global media empire, The Kardashian who are famous for…well we are all not
really sure. Regardless of that the Kardashian name is well known around the
world as a family that has transformed their persona and has been successful in
their entrepreneurial skills, to thus create and launch themselves as
celebrities. The culture of celebrities is now decreasing as empires such as
the Kardashian are bringing down the status. The issue of privacy is another
concept of celebrity culture that is important to recongise but although yes
everyone should we entitled to their own privacy when it comes to celebrities
calling for privacy after they post, tweet and upload till they are blue in the
face. These actions are calling or rather demanding the attention of the
general public. So when it is that it becomes to far for celebrities? Should
they be able to click their fingers and momentarily forget their existence and
influence over our lives..
The most obvious
known example that incorporates celebrities using their entrepreneurial skills
to create and establish what is known renounced as a global media empire. It’s
the Kardashian clan. Love them or hate them, they are everywhere and have stuck
gold it terms of launching themselves as global empire. How did they do it
though.. They definitely would have struggled without the access and influence
of Television and social media to promote themselves. With a television show
and several spin off shows that depict
the Kardashian’s in their everyday life, the insight we have is pretty
outstanding. Not to mention if you are lucky enough to be following one of the
Kardashian’s on twitter or instagram where you receive daily updates of what
they have been doing and a photo to match. In this respect social media has
helped platform the Kardashians into multi-million dollar stars, as all aspects
of social media and mass media have worked in harmony in their creation.
Kardashian women
As now the Internet, technology and social
media have helped created celebrities from average people that walk down the street,
take a video of them and post it on youtube and on some accounts turn into
over night celebrities that have there 15 minutes of fame. But these
‘celebrities’ are a bad influence; firstly they encourage adolescents and
children to participate in harmful or dangerous stunts to gain attention, just
like they did. An example of this is Jackass- A TV show where they perform
dangerous stunts to entertain the audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyYfimukl88
Or another alternative which paints these
celebrities as role models, is a TV show like ‘the city’ where un realistically
show the lives of elite socialites and display this as the way to live.
The
bad press that some celebrities receive can also be considered as portraying a
bad influence their younger admirers. As Marshall states [2010] there is no
denying that people are strongly influenced by celebrities in modern society
and celebrity is a construction of a personal persona that is presented
publicly. Not all celebrities receive bad press but they bring the others down
as the accomplishments of great sportsman/women are lost when an ‘airhead’
celebrity gets her sex tape realised. Not to mention the police involvement that
is increasingly being linked to celebrity. Where it is driving while heavily
under the influence or a drug related offence, celebrity crime is at all time
high. There is no denying that a link will draw between young teens who idolize
these stars that have broken the law and been convicted. Which definitely has
the potential to increase teen’s erratic behavior because if they see their
role models and idols taking part in such activities they will see it as more
of a reason to as well. This is backed up by several sources that state Celebrities
need to change the way they act and how they are viewed, as their actions have
more of an effect on us then many people believe they have.[Gauna 2012]
Mugshot of well known actress Lindsay Lohan after she was caught drink driving in 2010
As these individuals are so often defined
as role models, people that children look up to respect and based them on. Some
of these celebrities with no real talent, why is it okay for them to act
inappropriately and influence younger generations of people. Are they aware
they have this much power and influence. Psychiatrist Joseph Burgo [2010]
breaks down the reasoning for the obsession and fascination with celebrities as
two psychological forces working together- Idealization and envy. Individuals want
to see celebrities as privileged people that lead the ideal life, a life
without pain and frustration and full of excitement. This is why we place them
on such a pedestal.
A part of being a celebrity is opening
yourself to the world, whether you want to or not, it’s practically a requirement
of the job. Some see this as the ‘downside’ of being a celebrity; personally I
think that celebrities should deal with it. As it is the aspect that lets you
deeply connect with your audience. Social media has had a huge influence over
allowing celebrities to build a persona and ‘in this digital era, it is not
difficult to find information about celebrities no matter how personal or
private.’[Wright 2012]. There have been reports of stars personal address being
posted on gossip columns… is this too far?
Regardless of what is said celebrities have
existed and will continue to exist in our society. They will remain on the
pedestal they are put on when they enter the world of fame and unfortunately
for them the only way is down. So one day if they were to make a mistake the
whole world will watch them fall. This fall will negatively affect the persona
they have created for themselves and the millions of fans that worship them. To
be a celebrity you have to be well recongised and to a certain extent have a
‘fan club’. If the fans follow you in your demise then you’ve landed yourself
on the bad influence list. Alternatively if they haven’t
have you lost your fans, and thus fame?
Whether it’s a 72 day marriage that gets
our attention or a drink driving incident, as a celebrity they can’t be exempt
from attention when something wrong is done. They also must realize the impact
that what they do affects and influences their followers. But irrespective of
the wrong doings there is something idealistic and fascinating about celebrity
culture, it is a culture that will continue to affect the society and
individuals.
Burgo, J, 2010, After Psychotherapy, ‘celebrities-
why we love and hate them’ <http://www.afterpsychotherapy.com/celebrities/>
Gauna, A, 2012, ‘negative influence celebrities
on teens’,
Marshall, P 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, vol.
47, no. 6, pgs. 1-6, retrieved 31 August, Academic Search Complete, <http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-m.deakin.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6bc3f301-1658-4cc3-9ee2-02d7f530d40e%40sessionmgr4&vid=2&hid=2>
Wright, S, 2012, ‘Blinding lights: Negative
effects of the media on celebrities’, <http://www.calpoly.edu/~gkeyclub/SeniorProject.pdf>
IMAGE SOURCES:
Kardashian photo:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-kardashians-made-65-million-100349?page=show
Lohan photo:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-lindsay-lohan-mugshot-collection
