Collin Palmer's Essay 'Celebrity Obsession'

Many people are blind-sighted and tricked into being sucked into the world of celebrities and reality tv. This occurrence is known as celebrity worship syndrome and it can have many detrimental effects. Research has found that celebrity worship syndrome and an addiction to celebrities “has likewise been conceptualized as a search for a solid identity and social role ... and compulsive and obsessional elements are noted at advanced stages of addiction ... Thus, while absorption can partially account for the vividness of delusions related to dissociative experience ... the progression along our hierarchy of celebrity worship might reflect increases in the thresholds of the need and capacity of psychological absorption” (Rockwell). The absorption-addiction model that Rockwell references describes the parasocial relationship of a celebrity and a fan. Typically, due to deficits in a person’s life, a fan will become absorbed into a celebrity's following in order to escape their current life and they eventually become addicted. If an obsession with a celebrity is left unchecked it has the possibility to spiral into thoughts or behaviors that can be harmful to the fan and

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.

Celebrities only exist in a society that has access to mass communications. Being a celebrity refers to the fame and public attention from the mass media to an individual or group. The Huffington Post defines stardom as “the intrinsic ability to take fame and parlay that into an emotional connection with the audience which causes the audience to follow said star's exploits outside of that star's specific niche.” The hollywood star system was the method of creating, promoting and exploiting stars in Hollywood films. Movie studios would select promising young actors and glamorise and create personas for them, often inventing new names and even new backgrounds. Dan Laughey’s “Key Themes in Media Theory” explains why celebrities have such an influence on youth culture and how celebrity image is conveyed through youth identity. He uses Harold Lasswell, Marshall McLuhan, Jurgen Habermas and Erving Goffman theories to support this claim.

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

Superstars whether you discern it are among the leaders of this nation. Because of their fame, they are continually in the public eye; many people; especially children, and adolescents look up to them for what they should do. For instance, when Miley Cyrus published her “Wrecking Ball” song a teenager bounded on his school’s war monument of a hanging cannonball. He then swung on it, starkly. Besides the result of wanting to regurgitate, can you now see why what celebrities do are vital to our country.

People will go to great lengths to be close to the stars of Hollywood. It drives some people insane. That drive for fame and power leaves a lasting impression on the landscape and on lives for decades.

Media sensationalism creates an interesting phenomenon; more often than not, the comments made by varying levels of popular culture stars become catch phrases, buzz words, and the be-all end-all definition of an individual. These occurrences happen, for better or worse, and an individual becomes intrinsically linked to those statements for the rest of their living life and well after. Sometimes these comments are uplifting and promote the betterment of man; but sometimes they serve to berate or belittle a group as well, often times with very little thought being put into what has been disseminated. In either case, they are merely the opinions of an individual who happens to be famous. At times, the subject of opinion may hold little

This hunt causes many celebrities to become primarily occupied in their own life and focused solely on themselves. Celebrities become so egotistical because “in a world where the celebrity is hardly ever told ‘no,’ a predominantly self-centered orientation can occur” (Rockwell and Giles 189). Becoming so narcissistic causes many to go down the path towards self-importance. The desire for pride becomes addictive on the journey towards fame, and according to Donna Rockwell and David C. Giles, “It becomes difficult for the person to imagine living without fame…one said, ‘I’ve been addicted to almost every substance known to man at one point or another, and the most addiction of them all is fame’” (Rockwell and Giles 184).

Athletes, singers, actors – what do all these people have in common? They’re idols; people who are loved, looked up to, and copied because they’re so good at what they do. They’re the examples every child patterns themselves after. But are they a good influence? Consider an athlete like Ray Rice, who plays well on the field, but beats his wife when the cameras aren’t looking. Or, an actor like Johnny Depp, who skillfully makes a story come to life on the screen, but slips into a drug-addict lifestyle like it’s a sweater. These are the people who will define our future – not who the new generation is, but who they look up to. If the wrong people are chosen to pattern ourselves after, it turns into chaos. For example, look at the Slender Man

Celebrities’ lives seem so perfect. It’s everyones dream to be famous. However,when you’re in it, you need to find yourself and get through it. Macauly Culkin, is one of many childhood celebrities that had an encounter with substances like drugs and alcohol going into his adulthood (Horrell 2). Fame is something many want, but no all know how to live with it. When we stop to actually take a look at what’s going on we see how horrible things actually are. Celebrities have no privacy, their lives are an open book to the world. Also, celebrities start to portray themselves differently based on the way the public views them. Most importantly though, the stress of being out to the world all the time cause them to look for comfort in substances such

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

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.

A star’s image is a concept carefully molded by the celebrity himself or herself with the aid of many factors such as audience reception and current ideological trends. Star image, by definition, given by O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, is “the qualities, ideals, and values that a star represents, based on their films and other performances, and on media information circulated about them” (430). A change of star image encompasses the sum of everything we, as in the audience, affiliate with that star. That means changing the star’s body of work, promotion, publicity, and audience practices. These factors put together is also known as star text (Professor Josh Jackson, September 8, 2016, University of California, Berkeley). Jennifer Lawrence had a particular star text before she took on the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and was instead known for her role of Ree Dolly in Winter’s Bone. This new role launched Lawrence into a different star text she was previously known for. Though it seemed like the change is solely based on her landing an already popular role, the change in her star text is still calculated in order for her to maintain a certain image that landed her at the top of the celebrity social ladder. This careful manipulation of a celebrity’s image as she takes on a role that guaranteed a big impact on her acting career demonstrates how a star’s image is important when it comes to maintaining what the celebrity, and everyone who is working with that

Celebrities have plenty in common with political leaders in terms of their lifestyles and  powerful impact on society. Although many believe that even with their similarities both should not talk about the issues that concern the other, some also argue that these similarities are what make their comments valid. Focusing specifically on celebrities, it is reasonable that they should not raise their opinions on politics. By examining how their lives  are affected by the political leaders and their decisions and contrasting that to the benefits of  not sharing their political comments to the public, it will be that the above stance is highly justifiable.

The downside of fame is the interference of the media in one’s life. Stories concerning celebrities are likely to attract customers, just for entertainment purposes. Celebrities’ life is publicized, criticized and mocked at. Reporting celebrities downfall seems to be particularly appealing to the public, and it seems that hardly a day passes without the news reporting a celebrity’s’ downfall. Some people are obsessed with famous people, their life styles, and have desire for more information. Media’s negative role destroys the famous people’s lives. Famous people deserve privacy and respect. This essay will discuss the unfair treatment received by famous people from the media.