In September of 2013, administrators at Grand Valley State University removed a wrecking ball sculpture, also known as a bifilar pendulum, from campus after students started using it to recreate a popular Miley Cyrus music video. In her “Wrecking Ball” video, Miley swings around naked on a large metal wrecking ball, prompting the shock, scorn, and admiration of people around the nation and accumulating a record breaking 19.3 million views in the first hour it went viral (Kingkade). Grand Valley Students were no exception, using the pendulum structure to recreate Cyrus’s behavior in their own versions of “Wrecking Ball.” Jokes aside, the parodies of the popular music video all had one goal: to emulate the wild celeb’s behavior. The news headlines …show more content…
“I’m Beyonce!” she squeals as she shakes her hips in an attempt to copy the dance moves from the music video. “Why do you want to be Beyonce?” I ask. “Because she’s pretty” she answers simply. Ask any child what they want to be when they grow up and they will most likely say they want to be someone who is famous. Celebrities are our role models. Society places them on a pedestal as the ideal human beings; the media tells us that they are who we should be like. It is clear to see why people have long looked to celebrities as models for how we should behave, dress and look like. Psychologist and Stanford University Professor Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, as described in his book Social Learning Theory, can be applied as one possible explanation for why people so often want to emulate celebrities. Bandura’s theory is based on the principle that people learn best by observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, values and actions of models around them, especially those who society tells us are worth noticing. If we apply this theory it makes sense that we look to those society tells us are successful as models for behavior. By becoming more like …show more content…
in Bouchez). Similarly, Social Anthropologist Jamie Tehrani suggests in his interview to The Daily Banter that this phenomenon may have something to do with our evolutionary past, which in the same way “allowed our ancestors to recognize and reward individuals with superior skills and knowledge, and learn from them” (qtd. in Furst). These so called ancient celebrities were people who were used as models for survival behavior such as using medicinal properties of plants or improving the design of hunting weapons. Tehrani states that in the past imitating these “prestigious individuals” helped promote the spread of adaptive behaviors, and therefore celebrity role models in today’s society make us susceptible to “copying traits that are of no use in themselves, or which may even be harmful…it makes sense to copy whoever happens to be doing best at a particular time and place” (qtd in Furst). Celebrities are people the world tells us are worth noticing, whether it is for their good looks, talent or acting abilities. As a result we use them as role models in order to guide our behavior and shape our conduct. The problem however, is when these behaviors turn deadly or dangerous.
In a celebrity driven culture, it has become the norm to idolize people as perfect angels who seem to do no wrong. In Robin Givhan’s Glamour, That Certain Something, the idea and definition is explored by this fashion elite. It describes why glamour can actually be detrimental to the society as a whole. However, glamour is subjective and arbitrary trait that is being slightly misconstrued as perfection.
In today’s popular culture a big topic of discussion is pop singer, Miley Cyrus. She was a former star on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana and now we have all seen her transformation from a girl to a woman. To avoid fading away like many other celebrity teen stars as they aged, Miley decided to reinvent herself as an adult musician by pushing the limits. Many people only see Miley Cyrus for her unadulterated VMA Performances and her frowned upon behavior, which most individuals don’t care to get to know. There is another side of Miley that has made a huge impact on society and has reached new levels in giving back to the community. Miley has dedicated herself to feminism, improving society’s image of women, leading the fight against LGBTQ discrimination, charity work, and using social media to expose societal issues.
In his book, “Money and Class in America,” Lewis Lapham states, “The ardor of the American faith in money easily surpasses the intensity achieved by other societies in other times and places.” This notion is the reoccurring theme in Lapham’s book. America is so taken with the idea that without money your achievements do not mean as much as they would if they came with a large sum of cash. We as a society value money over more important qualities such as knowledge or integrity.
Case in point, teens’ students, and children all follow the progression of fashion. To illustrate many celebrities such as Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift, Rita Ora, and lastly Arianna Grande all have their own style. However people tend to follow their favorite celebrity and become like them. This includes, their hairstyle, clothes, watches, shoes, gadgets etc. Suppose Ariana Grande went on stage with a dissimilar color of hair such as the neon lavender, everyone would want to dye their hair in that particular way to stand out and rebel. As a result people would follow the trend and copy what the artist is doing. Continually these people need the approval of others to feel radiant and popular. With that being said, our society follows what others do, instead of expressing themselves without the judgment of
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.
It has always been mankind’s nature to be equal or better than one another; as a society, as a group, or as an individual. We have evolved greatly over thousands of years, however we remain as a society with some bad habits. This is shown in the novel Uglies, model’s participating in annual Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, and the hit T.V show Botched. In today’s modern society, individuals or the majority of people will alter the way they appear or act in order to fit in with present day “Beauty”.
Therefore, the media uses celebrities to promote products, knowing that our attention will be taken by a celebrity everyone knows. According to Donatelle, the images and celebrities in the media set the standard we find attractive (para. 7). Based on the sentence, the media uses celebrities to create a perfect image of what people should look like. Americans have a phenomenon and an obsession with appearances. Yet, Soloman article talks about linking celebrities to brands so that the product used or endorse also take on an aspirational quality (para. 15). For example, enormous fans of Beyoncé will purchase her perfume to smell similar to her. Both articles state how celebrities are used as messages to get a point across to society, whether it is to promote a product or give an idea of something people should do. The media has shaped our preferences and has caused society to mimic the actions of
In the article, entitled “The Impact Celebrities Have on Our Lives,” Deborah King establishes the reasons why being overly obsessed with celebrities can lead to bad habits. To begin with, King points out that everyone is too obsessed with celebrities. The article indicates that the younger the audience, the more likely they will try to be like them and want what they have. Furthermore, King writes that even though there are positive celebrities out there, people seem to be more obsessed with the celebrities that make bad influences on people. In addition, she emphasizes that even though there are celebrities that seem like good role models for their audience, they have a private life that no one seems to know about. As a result, King concludes
Miley Cyrus can easily be explained through the eyes of Sigmund Freud, the father of Psychoanalysis. Freud was the first to develop the “talking cure”, in which one makes their unconscious thoughts, beliefs, and motives, conscious by means of catharsis, or a free discharge of emotions. In this approach, it is thought that our behavior is a result of our unconscious motives. Therefore, psychodynamic therapy bases its treatment of mental disorders on the relationship between the unconscious and conscious mind. After working with many different people, Freud came to the conclusion that repressed memories, fears, and emotions stored in the unconscious mind must be brought to light to the conscious mind, in order for them not to manifest themselves through symptoms. The key internal mechanism for change here is insight of how the unconscious thoughts influence their behavior.
Today, those who acquire abundant talent recurrently attract a lot of attention, and those who are lucky enough, become famous for their talent. The once humble person, after acquiring fame, begins to become very popular, and their whole life changes. That person’s personality begins to alter, changing them into arrogant monsters, and their desire for more fame grows exponentially. Soon, the quest for fame leads to destruction by unintentionally chasing pride, the fame monster. This is evident in the epic poem Beowulf, and in the articles “The Fame Motive” and “A Phenomenology of Fame.”
Americans see and read about celebrities all the time, either through online advertisements or through massive popularization on social media such as Instagram and Twitter. Through the internet, we can always keep up to date with what our favorite celebrities are doing or wearing. Celebrities post their outfits of the day on their profiles for their followers to see. If a pop icon begins to advertise a type of shirt or jeans, that item of clothing instantly becomes a trend and due to their popularity everyone wants to dress and look like them. Therefore, people begin to see that everyone around them, in the streets or at school dress alike. For instance, a type of shoes such as stilettos is popular in one generation and not popular the following generation due to the evolving style of popular icons through social media. Popular icons can also change the perspective of body images in the American identity. If most of the celebrities have a certain body image that is widely popular, such as having larger appearing eyes, that body trait will begin to become more popular in the society. More people will pay to look like those celebrities by plastic surgery and different cosmetic procedures. Therefore, if a mass popularity begins to look or appear the same, that trend will become a part of the American identity. For example, in the
In King’s article she states “Head to the checkout line at a grocery store and you’ll see all the magazines, each trying to have the most salacious story on the cover to gain your attention so that you’ll spend your hard-earned dollar buying it”(1). In a survey that we took its shows that only 3 percent of students spend their money on a magazine. This means that we have other important items to buy than a magazine. King later states, “ When you look in the mirror and delight in your Rachel haircut, or despair that you will never have Halle Berry’s body, what is the comparison saying to you?”(18). In our survey that we took, it shows that only 11 percent of students wear certain styles of clothes or haircut because of celebrities. This means that people want to be themselves, however they just pick up tips. As we read we realize that students aren't really that
This excerpt shows how more emphasis is put on women’s appearance and its keep up, and also shows the negative connotation of this prettiness; it is associated with shallowness. Not only is there an assumption that women spend much of their time on their appearance, but also there is the connected fact that others pay more attention to their appearance than their other character traits. This is still a reality of today as can be seen on the red carpet. Female celebrities have a whole industry devoted to making them look fashionable and pretty for events. The focus of these events becomes what they’re wearing rather than their work as actresses and singers.
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,
Kids see celebrities in the news every day and mimic what they do, thinking that they should be like them. But that is wrong. Most celebrities don’t know what they are doing in their life because they have a hard time telling reality from fantasy.