Our Obsession
There are many people who stretch the idea of our “obsessions” with celebrities. In Deborah King’s article, “The Impact of Celebrities”, she argues that people are obsessed with celebrities in an unhealthy way. However, in Palmer’s short essay response, he assumes that King exaggerates our “obsession” with celebrities. Although King’s argument is strong, I have to agree with Palmer that being obsessed with celebrities isn’t as bad as King suggests. Some people, like King, portrays people to be obsessed with celebrities. In Palmer’s short essay response he states, “We teenagers are passionate - maybe even obsessed - about our favorite stars, but that doesn’t make it a big problem, and it doesn’t mean we want to copy their bad behaviors” (14). I think this quote makes it clear that, Palmer believes teenagers are not influenced by celebrities negatively. For example, the results of a survey taken by several 7th graders shows that, 0.9% percent of students are inspired to do something bad because a celebrity. Students, kids
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In the online article, “Why Are We So Obsessed With Celebrity Culture?” the author states,“It’s addicting to feel that boost in confidence or pat on the back that comes from watching the lifestyles of celebrities, which can make us check in on them even more often.” This quote makes it clear that the author, Anum Yoon, thinks that we are proud of ourselves for not making fools out of ourselves. We don’t have to think of what anyone will think of us. We are just thankful that we don’t have to lead the fake lives of celebrities. A article on Qorua.com says,“My last theory relates to how we learn. As we know, the most effective way to learn is find a mentor or role model. This requires that we model our mentor so that we might learn their skills/ways.” This ties in with what Palmer said about his brother and how he looks up to celebrities, how some of them are role
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
In the article “The Impact Celebrities have on Our Lives”, Deborah King states that we are obsessed with celebrities(para1), and I agree, it also makes me wonder why people are obsessed with celebrities. In my experience I can see a lot of people are usually watching a reality show or something of that sort. This shows that society is obsessed with celebrities. In addition it also shows that the reason people even care about celebrities is they are entertaining. In conclusion our society is obsessed with celebrities weather they have a good or bad effect on us.
In this world people put lots of stress on celebrities to be perfect all the time. Celebrities are worldwide. Celebrates cannot walk down the street without being bombarded by paparazzi. All of that comes with a reason. Kids look up to them, so celebrities have to be media train. Like with rappers, most of their characters portray a life full of crime and enjoyment. Children see that and they think its real life. Kids are on the internet doing ridiculous things to get frame. In this day and age with no free thinkers pop culture is effecting the youth.
Celebrities or famous people influences and cultures are forced into teenager’s faces, where they become a big names and are always seen, read or heard on radios/TV/magazines. This exposure to celebrity culture encourages teenagers to copy and try to have a lifestyle much like
A celebrity is defined by the media and society through characterisations; the introduction of various on-line and print media platforms enhance the presence of celebrity culture, such for advertising, activism, different genres of television (e.g. reality, gastronomical), and even political avenues as well (Driessens). Their fame is developed based on prominence cum establishment in the entertainment industry that transforms their recognition into a popular culture. In Graeme Turner’s Understanding Celebrity, he discusses the effects of contemporary popular culture representing celebrity as an icon of cultural change (Turner Understanding Celebrity). The power of a celebrity uses his status and popularity to create discourse with the public and media; how each present themselves to an audience in performances or marketing, these functions as general tokens of success in their glamourous lives (Driessens). The discursive effect in the celebrity contemporary culture aligns close to religion, with some qualities credited to particular celebrities and religious figures. The way some fans admire their celebrity figures reflects a spiritual experience, as fans view their idol as a person with immortal talents and influential qualities. This phenomenon is linked to how the media glorifies the celebrity and thus, produces a celebrated figure with an astounding influence amongst the public (Turner Understanding Celebrity). As a result, the celebrity’s economic value is
The role of fame and celebrities’ heavily influence American culture. Some people may be eager for a celebrity status or be drawn to one who has achieved it for reasons not fully understood. When the word “fame” is thought of, often what comes to mind is the money and the attention that comes with it. However, fame can also bring pain through addiction and the publics lack of acknowledgement that celebrities are people who share the same struggles and stress. America’s obsession with “celebrity culture” effects the attitudes, behaviors, and the overall views of an average person, and also those of the celebrity themselves.
Furthermore,another reason why celebrity obsession is healthy is due to the fact that it’s a healthy escape to our boring lives. Deborah king’s right that “More than anything being obsessed with celebrities is a healthy escape from our boring lives” however,she fails to see that it is a healthy escape,but not from our boring lives because not everyone thinks that life is boring because they don't get what they want most in life. “I’d rather bond with someone over the latest antics of a celebrity than all the other dark topics on the news” is what palmer said in his inference. Palmer is saying how he would rather talk about celebrities than everything else in the news. Which is an escape from reality. Another reason why this is important is because it's a healthy escape especially
Celebrities are everywhere in the news, the latest gossip appears in the weekly magazines without fail. Whether they be an actor, athlete, dancer, designer, model, singer or just rich; there is someone out there who is watching that person like a hawk, not letting a single breath go unnoticed. Such is the life of the rich and famous, under the incessant gaze of journalists and the paparazzi. Lives that many people take a great interest in and admire to the point where others would liken this great interest and admiration to a cult-like worship of celebrities. This is a brief description of what I think to be celebrity culture.
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.
Celebrity culture is a growing issue that has been cultivated by the prosperity of social media in the modern world. Celebrity culture effects society in many different ways both positive and negative, such as celebrities being portrayed as role models in the media, and corporations using celebrity endorsement to gain clients from the existing fans of the celebrity used. The first article, titled ‘Celebrity, youth culture and the question of role models’ discusses how celebrities are portrayed as good and bad role models in the media based upon previous actions. The author of the editorial piece was ‘Kirsty Fairclough’ who published the article to ‘The Conversation’ on September 15, 2015. Fairclough takes the side of celebrities being irresponsible and not set for being role models of growing teenagers, as well as this, celebrities set extreme unreachable standards of physical beauty resulting in mental illness. The second article, authored by ‘George Monbiot’ is titled ‘Celebrity culture isn’t just harmless fun – it’s the smiling face of the corporate machine’. The opinion piece was published in ‘The Guardian’ on the 21st of December 2016. It debates the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement by large corporations in an attempt to reach out to existing fans of the celebrity. The third piece takes the form of a magazine cover from the magazine ‘Who’, the magazine publication was released on the 23rd of October 2017.
There are many teenagers and young kids that are overly obsessed with celebrities that it effects them in a negative way. The way it affects teenagers and kids negatively is that it can lead to depression or suicidal. Some of them even cry over the celebrity. In my experience, there were many teenage girls that went crazy when Zayn, from the band One Direction, left the group.
They worship them as gods, therefore the bad things they do (drink driving, fighting, hard drugs etc.) isn't regarded as bad as they actually are. If they look up to someone that is almost naked in every photoshoot/music video/movie, they might assume that that's how to be recognised and how they should act. This act could give them a permanent unwanted label. Therefore affecting their life in school and could lead to stress. boys that look up to people like Tiger Woods and
Watching reality TV shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians where reality TV stars become famous by just living a luxurious life, teens or even adults might be encouraged that anyone can be famous by going on TV status and just “being themselves”, without any efforts or special talents. As John Humphrys points out, 'we tell kids what matters is being a celebrity and we wonder why some behave the way they do. This can build their desire of fame and to pursue celebrity status while ignoring the importance of education. Hence, reality TV discourages the value of hard work and education (IDEA,
They may be the best of the best but they can be the worst for kids. Celebrities are all around us. It is hard for us to get away from them unless we were locked in an empty room. As soon as we turn on the T.V. we see a celebrity. When we walk in a shop, we see pictures of celebrities on the wall and even on some food items. There are many celebrities known for doing good acts like donating or helping charities. But, there are some celebrities doing bad acts such as doing drugs. There are also celebrities changing themselves not with the intent to change others. At the end, celebrities can be considered positive and negative role models. The difference is that the celebrities who do bad acts will be focused on more than the celebrities who
However, there is a contrasting view of celebrity worship wherein the positive roles carried out by these fans in maintaining social networks around their favourite celebrities are emphasized (Maltby et al., 2001). The said behaviour can be beneficial to the individual because it supports productive social relationships, which may also serve as psychological buffer against stressors (Maltby et al., 2001). In relation to adolescent development, parasocial interactions formed in this stage may contribute to social, emotional, and transitional roles of adolescents (Adams-Price & Green,