Celebrity Culture : Alain De Botton

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

According to Webster dictionary, a celebrity is defined as a famous or celebrated person. Celebrities serves as role models, heroes, cultural commentators, charity spokespeople, and political candidates. An exploration of celebrity culture uncovers changing conceptions of legitimacy, authority, and credibility at play in our culture (The Hedgehog Review, 2005) .There is a celebrity culture that has engulfed Canada, and indeed North America for a while now because celebrity culture is alluring, even to those who are embarrassed to admit it. There has been increasing infiltration of celebrity culture into politics. The media might have deliberately and unwittingly contributed in perpetuating this celebrity culture.

In the article, “ The Impact Celebrities Have On Our Lives,” Deborah King explores the issue of celebrities impacting our lives, both negatively and positively. To begin with, she mentions that, today, we are overly obsessed with celebrities, whether they are positive or not. The author demonstrates that negative celebrities are more well-known than positive celebrities since they are mentioned on the news due to their salacious actions. Furthermore, King mentions that there are many positive celebrities that are famous despite the negative ones. In addition, she emphasizes that even positive actions performed by celebrities can get on the news, not just negative actions are publicised. Finally, King concludes the article by mentioning that

Humor has become manifested into nearly all aspects of the secular world. Whether it be in comics, writings, or television, some form of comedy is sure to be seen on a regular basis. It seems the world today depends on a good laugh every now and then, and Alain de Botton argued the purpose of this in his book Status Anxiety. He concluded that humorists are more than just a form of entertainment; They "convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly". These men and women are granted some degree of leeway to speak freely and candidly on ultimately any subject for the preservation of societal stability. Their representation of public sentiment results in the people feeling as if what they long to say is finally being heard on a larger platform. Humorists serve the vital role of being a true reflection of public opinion; however, they are not immune to

Why are people so fascinated with celebrities? What makes people want to be like them? What are celebrities actually like? Facing these tough questions, Ty Burr in his essay “The Faces in the Mirror” forces readers to question their own answers. By explaining the history of celebrities and the worship of them, he gives readers a wealth of knowledge. Wisely, Burr immediately establishes his credibility so that readers know they can trust his educated point of view. His essay is full of strong logic. However, it lacks a substantial amount of hardcore facts. Furthermore, Burr effortlessly snatches the reader’s attention by using dramatic statements and achieving a sense of pathos. Burr’s authority on the topic, along with his convincing logic, and dramatic statements allow his essay to achieve a remarkable persuasiveness to his essay.

Chris Hedges’ “American Psychosis” is one author’s explanation behind the perceived degradation of America, attributing this decay mostly to a nationwide engrossment in the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Hedges further purports that the American government itself is behind making famous people front-and-center at all times, so that the populace has no chance to focus on the nation’s actual problems. He suggests that this reality TV state-of-mind turns life into a “world of unadulterated competition” where our attention-craving society discards the losers “like Styrofoam boxes that held junk food”. Those ‘excess’ human beings who cannot keep up with the endless quest for notoriety, he contends, end up unemployed, imprisoned, or homeless, because the only worth humans have in the modern world is their ability to make headlines. The final piece of his article is dedicated to fomenting some kind of vengeful revolution against celebrity culture, in which the public purges itself of inconsequential distractions so that they can once again separate illusion from reality.

In the article entitled “The Impact Celebrities have on our Lives,” Deborah King explains the reason why celebrities have a huge impact on us weather they are good or bad. First, King points out that many companies use celebrities to get people’s attention. The writer reveals that celebrities can have a huge impact on us. In addition, she explains how celebrities can be bad in their private life. Furthermore, she indicates that some celebrities can be good. To sum up, King concludes that celebrities can still have a huge impact on us weather they are good or bad.

The media covering our everyday lives all over has opened up numerous different ways to get yourself entertained. This, in conjunction, is bound to create celebrities. And even though some people are in it just for the money and fame, other ones are actually working for a genuinely good cause.

This section of celebrities, for Gabler, have a story which the people are interested in and are willing to follow. It does not matter whether they are good or evil in their personal lives until they have something fascinating to share. Taking an example of O.J. Simpson , who was an athlete and then turned into an actor, is well known although he was involved in a murder because people are prone to follow those who have an thrilling journey, with ups and downs, without considering the character of the

The impact a celebrity has on us can be positive as well negative. As author Deborah King suggests, “Much like the Roman spectators waited for the gladiator to lose his battle and die, we too are waiting

When analyzing the social make up and the issues associated with celebrities having the power to influences the public, sociological concepts can be applied. Sociology has taught us to be curious and ask the question why. It also takes a scientific approach when answering the types of questions

As you can see, celebrity activism helps out a big variety of problems and issues.

Some of us would say “No”, but the majority of us would leap on the prospect of living the life of a celebrity. Who doesn’t want the perks of vacationing all over the world, having someone wait on you hand and foot, receiving freebies from designers and all the other perks that come with being a celebrity? The question is do we want the downfalls that come with fame? Can we handle vicious tabloid scrutiny, fabrications, and assumptions? Being a celebrity has its perks, but at what cost? Fame and money can be the root of all evil. Never the less, we are contributing to the madness when we purchase tabloid magazines, watch entertainment shows that follow celebrity activities and judge them for their actions.

As I read through this verbose chapter I began to pick up on the dominating themes of celebrity culture and their development over time. I consider myself somewhat of a celebrity super fan but as I read I realized I have never dove deeper into the meaning of celebrity but merely skimmed the surface. During my perusal of the chapter many thought-provoking concepts jumped out at me.

Have you ever wondered what influences us to behave the way we do? Look a certain way? Or even looked for an explanation to what causes us to apply a certain perspective regarding personal and controversial issues? One of the answers to these questions may revolve around the influence we absorb from celebrities. A definitive term for celebrity is an iconic figure to a category or group who has achieved success in one or multiple aspects of their lives. As a result, these individuals have drawn in publicity and fame. Over the years with the advances in media and other forms of communication, celebrities have become topics of discussion worldwide, rather if it’s at school, with colleagues or at the dinner table, it is fair to say that