The Reasons Why Many People in the Late 20th Century are so Attracted to Celebrities Many people in the 20th century are very attracted to celebrities. Celebrities are singers, models, film stars, politicians – anybody who is famous and constantly in the limelight. The extent to which people in the late 20th century are fascinated by celebrities can be seen in the extensive media coverage of every detail of their lives as well as the high social status attached to them. There are several reasons why people in the late 20th century are so enthralled by celebrities. Firstly, celebrity worship has been elevated to a peak in the late 20th century because of the dynamic world of today. The world has developed rapidly such that there are many countries that have achieved a higher standard of living and a higher level of income. People are richer and are living better. In the developed and highly industrialized nations, people have the spare money to spend on entertainment. Therefore, they spend their leisure time following the lives of the celebrities, hoping to obtain release from their mundane lifestyles. An example is the case of teenagers in Japan, working themselves into frenzy over their favorite idols and bands like BOA and “Speed”. The late 20th century has also seen many disasters such as wars, plane crashes and earthquakes. We have racial disputes in Indonesia, ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia and the recent economic recession, among other problems. People thus turn to celebrities to escape the harsh realities of their circumstances and search for glamour and success in the troubled world today. From the success of the celebriti... ... middle of paper ... ...s an important role in increasing the level of celebrity idolization in the late 20th century. With the Internet, there is rapid access to information about celebrities. Thus, people can now easily emulate the lifestyles of their idols. People also start creating web pages in tribute to their idols, further fuelling the interest towards celebrities. . All in all, there are many reasons why so many people are attracted to celebrities, some of which I have discussed in my essay. People look to the celebrities to fulfill their innermost fantasies and escape from the harsh realities of their circumstances. The celebrities, with their talent and charm, provide even more reason for people to be attracted to them. The media’s influence and the level of technology have all played a part in increasingly celebrity worship.
The poem "Fame", by Vladimir Nabokov, seems to begin with the description or rather a search for the description of a character to be placed in one form of literary sat, whether poem or prose. The character's physical description is already formulated in the narrator's mind, "waxlike, lean-loined, with red nostrils soot-stuffed", but the narrator is struggling with the placement of the character, whether human, important, or "nothing special--just garrulous dust." The narrator continues with the description of the character while still unable to decide his standing. Deciding that the narrator is without fame in line 20, the narrator decides that only those of meek hearts can listen to his character's words. One can assume then that those of proud hearts choose not to adhere to this speaker because he holds no fame therefore to them, no words.
Film and its success during the period of 1910-1945 was heavily determined by the audience’s reception of the work. During this time, there was an influx of films being produced and stars rising within the system. Although the stars were seen as the role models and are portrayed larger than life, it is ultimately the audience that determines the fate of the success of the stars. Audiences would go see a film if a certain actor was in it; or an actor, and the name of the star alone can determine that a film will be somewhat successful. Within the film, however, it is the authenticity of the celebrity that the audience were looking for in the stars; the directors of film would need to cast people who were representative of their characters. Because
Being fascinated with appealing adults, both real-life adults and characters in books and movies, is a normal and healthy part of learning about the world however celebrity role models heavily influence popular culture and in turn societal identities. Pop music, with over sexualised starlets and questionable lyrics has become universal and normal. Miley Cyrus’ journey of stardom is a prime example of this (Jacobson, 2013).
The Celebrity as a Commodity Hurst introduced the idea of a commodity in the text. By definition, a commodity is something that is of use, advantage, or value. More directly, Hurst showed how people by use of their skills, looks, or names, could be used as advantages in society. He uses the examples of celebrities, sports figures, and beautiful people to show that people can be commodities. All of these groups bring some sort of recognition or attraction that is beneficial to a company, firm, or individual.
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 knowness, signifying the vanity of stardom from the commonly accepted images.
Works Cited Epstein, Dan. A. 20th Century Pop Culture: The Early Years to 1949. Philadelphia:
The image has a huge effect in society. A celebrity’s image can characterize, shape and circulate societal myths in Hollywood. Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, and model. People think her figure and beauty make her become a popular icon and sex symbol in the 1950s. When people talk about the name of Marilyn Monroe, a blonde beautiful sexy female's image will appear in people's minds. What has the beauty standard shown us through Marilyn Monroe in the mid-20th century? Besides the beauty what other things did she need in order for her to be famous at that time? Marilyn Monroe's status as a sex symbol has influenced many artists since her time, even though the beauty standard has been different since then. If we look at the celebrities today, we can find many imitators of Marilyn Monroe: Madonna, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and even Lady Gaga. They do this not only because of marketing and media needs, but also because people today still “worship” the image Monroe created. A half-century has passed since Marilyn Monroe's death, so why is she still relevant today? As time has passed, Marilyn Monroe's image is becoming even more meaningful and valuable. Think about the image she has created, the main point I want to study is: how does a woman who passed away at thirty-six years old, after starring in only a handful of movies, has such on the impact on women, especially young women, in the 21st century? To find the answer of how she has an impact on young women today will also show how some of the young celebrities today became successful.
Celebrities are misunderstood in several ways, people view celebrities as being snobby, rude to fans, all that matters is being recognized by persons and having attention, also not caring about the fans. People see celebrities as being rude and stuck up because on social media there is persons that are rude and make up rumors about celebrities because the person might not like this actor or actress. People make assumptions of celebrities because of rumors seen on the internet and on magazines. These individuals always care about which celebrity is dating another celebrity and what happens in the celebrity's personal life. When people view celebrities as being rude it is because some are rude only because these stars want privacy,
Anywhere you go you see pictures and hear stories about what celebrity did what, and who’s sleeping with who. Its clear to me America is obsessed with celebrities, having to know everything about them and their personal lives. This growing obsession is sick and unhealthy for the average American, it causes our culture to only value the celebrities and look down on the normal everyday person, allowing the average everyday hero to be lost in a sea of celebrity drama. This obsession is causing our kids to grow up and wanna live unrealistic lives, hoping to be just like Miley Ceyris or the next Justin Bibber. Our countries obsession with celebrities has moved from being a healthy hobby; into a stalker obsessive problem.
We are part of a generation that is obsessed with celebrity culture. Celebrities are distinctive. Media and consumers alike invented them to be a different race of super beings: flawless, divine and above all the real moral world. In a 1995 New York Times article “In contrast, 9 out of 10 of those polled could think of something
To fully discuss these topics, it is best to define what a celebrity and a psuedo-event is. The term ‘celebrity’ is often linked to ‘fame’, ‘stardom’, and ‘renown’. Development of mass media, during the twentieth century, including newpapers, radio, television, and now the Internet, gave rise to celebrity culture in the Western world. Media and publicity industries facilitate a growth of the ways the audience can consume celebrities after the creation, circulation, and promotion in the media (Drake and Miah). The celebrity, a represen...
People have long been fascinated by celebrities. We crave to see individuals rise from humble beginnings to public notoriety. We see something within ourselves and latch our dreams onto these larger than life figures and propel them into international icons. We see them as brave, honest, intelligent, caring or just downright sexy.
According to Epstein, a celebrity is something or someone who can be talented and full of achievements and yet wish to broadcast ones fame further through the careful cultivation of celebrity, while one can be the total opposite of achievements and be less talented and yet still be made seem otherwise through the mechanics and dynamics of celebrity creation (Epstein2). Celebrity culture today is epidemic; some might agree that it is sweeping up America in a harmful way, while one might argue that it is beneficial to our society. Over the last few decades, celebrity and fame has changed dramatically, from Alexander the Great to Kim Kardashian. Talent and achievements no longer play a huge role when it comes to celebrities. “Much modern celebrity seems the result of careful promotion or great good looks or something besides talent and achievement” (Epstein2) with that being said celebrity-creation has blossomed into an industry of its own.... ...
Have you ever think about the influences of celebrities that affect in people life. Celebrity is a kind of pop-culture that combines between interpersonal communication and media, and it creates desires from the people assumption or expectation. Celebrities are the important tools to attract audiences. The media scholars produce the celebrity content from what people expect from life. Celebrities may drive the directions of living such as habits, tastes, attention and ambition among people (Turnere). Nowadays, celebrities are all around us. They are one of the important people who can influence the media such as movies, drama, music magazines, news or even represent the nation. According to the William’s note celebrities are one part which
We know everything about them and we know nothing about them; it is this conflicting concept that leaves audiences thirsty for a drink of insight into the lifestyles of the icons that dominate movie theater screens across the nation. This fascination and desire for connection with celebrities whom we have never met stems from a concept elaborated on by Richard Dyer. He speculates about stardom in terms of appearances; those that are representations of reality, and those that are manufactured constructs. Stardom is a result of these appearances—we actually know nothing about them beyond what we see and hear from the information presented to us. The media’s construction of stars encourages us to question these appearances in terms of “really”—what is that actor really like (Dyer, 2)?