Celebrity Culture : Alain De Botton

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.

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.

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.

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

The first chapter of “Empire of Illusion” by Chris Hedges address the issue of celebrity culture and how media has created an illusion for life. Throughout the chapter, Chris Hedges makes many assumptions about the average person’s ability to read and think deeply about issues.

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.

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

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

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 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

So while other celebrities may do this once in awhile, even celebrities that just visit people and may donate but not work on anything get the same credit when they might just be doing it for the publicity and admiration from

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.

It is easy to say that, that is what most people want from their offspring, but social media and pop culture are quickly changing that. Scout Durwood put it perfectly when he said in his article, “8 reasons celebrity culture is bad for society”, “love or hate social media stars: when it comes to getting the word out about their next video, these guys reign supreme. Tweet and retweet can lead to groupthink. Rather than deciding what we like for ourselves, we feel compelled to like what everyone else likes.” Children and teens are seeing their favorite celebrity show off on social media and even if they don’t realize it, their underdeveloped brains are thinking “wow if they can make money just by posting on Instagram, so can I.”

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