Is Celebrity Worshipping Destroying Our Society?

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.

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.

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.

According to Deborah King's article, “The Impact Celebrities Have on Our Lives” she explains how people these days are celebrity obsessed. More specifically, people will stalk celebrities or do what they do. Case in King presents the following idea, “ For many people, not a day goes by when they don’t sneak a peek at their favorite celebrity gossip website” (section 1, paragraph 1). This reveals that some people go on websites that talk about celebrities almost everyday. People go on these websites to catch up on celebrities lives because of how much gossip is on the websites everyday. Sometimes this gossip may be false or a rum0or. One can infer that people who go on these websites like TMZ.com fall for these rumors and strart sto spread them more whe the whole situaltion was just a lie or a misunderstanding. One can also infer that the celebrity is upset or embarrassed because these rumors aren't true. Starting rumors about celebrities must have started because someone was stalking a celebrity which is basically being obsessed with

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.

Celebrity culture is a fairly new term that has emerged in the twentieth century due to an increase in media and social networking. It stands for a “culture of popularizing certain people who have certain attributes that society deem exceptional” (The Life Of). It seems like anyone can be famous whether they have true talent or not. The population decides who to follow and make famous by viewing an individual and watching how they live. Celebrities don’t behave in any different way compared to any other person; yet, they exceptionally act in a way that catches society's eye.

“Celebrity and media culture are probably the most overbearing pop-culture conditions that we as young people have to deal with, because it forces us to judge ourselves.” Lady Gaga perfectly describes the corrupt system of celebrity culture. Fame and celebrity culture is nothing new to human nature. As humans progressed from hunting and gathering, people who have been skilled in war, sports, and art have captured people’s undivided attention. As a result, celebrity gossip is an unhealthy distraction that undermines public discourse and sidetracks people from far more important issues. Celebrities are exploited as products to society, set an unrealistic standard of beauty, and the military having to face improper discrimination and a lack of support compared to professional athletes.

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.

Celebrities have become such a major part of American culture and heavily influenced society on how we, average people, live our lives. Throughout the world, people look up to celebrities as if they are some sort of God. Their admiration for celebrities has now become an obsession. These average people of society basically stalk these celebrities. They constantly check social media sites to see what a celebrity is doing and talk about these people like they know them personally. Beyoncé’s fans verbally attacked Rachel Roy and her daughter all because of one part of a song. Beyoncé never confirmed any of the rumors, but her fans were on the hunt to attack anyone they saw as a threat to Beyoncé. In today’s society, people put these celebrities

Altman, H. (2005, March 18). Celebrity culture. CQ Researcher, 15, 245-268. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2016.

Celebrities are a huge element in today’s society that a world without them is even hard to imagine because we are so accustom to seeing them all the time and everywhere we go whether it is in television, magazines and especially in social media. They have this power that we, as a society allow them to have and they are able to influence us all in different ways sometimes without themselves even realizing the impact they have. The role they have is so huge that we are constantly wanting to know everything about them, what they wear, what they eat and what they are doing. Celebrities are a part of our culture and it is hard to ignore the fact that we look up to them, it is as if they were up on a pedestal making them so much more important

People were not exposed to barrage of news about celebrities a couple of decades ago. Mass media is becoming more garden because of rapid progress on technology day by day. Thereby, people are substantially interested in the private life of celebrities, and some of them are obsessed with celebrities. They desire to know everything about them. For instance, who is dating with whom, where they are shopping, or what they wear. In a word public have an endless hunger for more information. However, the public doesn't have the right to know about every single detail of celebrities' private lives due to several reasons.

As it may seem, celebrities play a latent role in the structure of society. Stereotypical celebrities that were once known to showcase cavalier attitudes are changing the meaning of “celebrity culture”. Celebrities are powerfully influential in nature, individuals who look up to

One can see by this that celebrities can have a positive impact to help the individual when members of society. Celebrity obsession is okay when it is done to follow acceptable trends, but is the trend is not acceptable then the celebrity is being a negative influence. In addition,King states that many people must “sneak a peek at their favorite celebrity gossip website daily” (paragraph 1). If someone in society needs to look at a celebrity social media everyday. Then they are obsessed which isn't good. But many celebrities past things about their daily life that shows they are everyday people and to promote themselves of their brands. Thus, if society follows celebrities on social media, then it needs to be done in