Celebrities, Manipulation and Obsessions
The rich and powerful have been looked up to as gods from the beginning of time. In Palmers short essay response, he explains how people overestimate the influence celebrities have on others. Even though Palmer is correct that celebrities can inspire and be idolized in a positive way, modern times—and recent celebrities—have shown that it can also be the complete opposite. From a parent's perspective, it may be worrying that so many outside forces can so strongly influence their child's thinking and actions. Technology, too, has made it very easy for children to be persuaded into destructive behavior. In Deborah Kings research, “She discovered that the younger the participant was, the more apt they
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In the article When Celebrity Worship Leads to Mental Problems, by Fox news, it states “Depression, anxiety, and a decrease in self-esteem are just some of the documented problems that can result when we take the focus off our own lives and instead focus all our energy on the life of a celebrity” (2). As you can see, many people compare themselves to those who we call superior. By doing so, they see flaws and then become self conscious. Although most call it “harmless fun”, the repercussion can be damaging to yourself--and others around you--without noticing. In an article titled Celebrity Worship Syndrome, it tells us, “People who felt they had a unique bond with their chosen celebrity and were prepared to lie, or even to die, for their idol. [...] Driven to insanity by their dedication, for these fans celebrities had taken the place of family members and friends. They had replaced their normal relationships with a one-sided love that would never be reciprocated but they still couldn't halt in its tracks.” Although it seems as though these obsessions are jokes, it is proven that some fans go too far. A multitude of people hound their idols, going to extreme lengths such as finding which hotel they are sleeping in, just to be closer to them. People create fake relationships and bonds with celebrities that don't even know they exist. These teenagers worshipped celebrities as their …show more content…
Just state a few names, and many of us would agree that some celebrities create a bad influence. More often than not, celebrities want to change themselves to seem more appealing to their audience. Most celebrities even get plastic surgery to feel more attractive. When we see these changes, people will follow and want the same. Furthermore this article, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, explains what happens when happens when young people want to change themselves. “Dysmorphia, a condition in which there is dissatisfaction with body appearance, is on the rise as your teen struggles to reach perfection. In fact, in a study by the Keep It Real Campaign, 80 percent of all 10-year-old, American girls have been on a diet.” In advertisements and everyday celebrities, beautiful women/men are the highlight of it all. They create a false image, an unrealistic hope for teenagers. This affects them to follow their lead. Because they are told they are not pretty enough, they start to want the same change that celebrities went for. These kids deserve to be happy with themselves, and in our culture where we see celebrities focusing all around their appearance, so will we. From an article called Do Celebrity Role Models Promote Teen Substance Abuse? By addiction.com, they concur that “Studies show that most high schoolers spend 20-40 hours per week using the television, computer and internet. Everywhere teens turn they can see images
Celebrity worship is a term given to those who obsess over one or more celebrity. Jake Halpern's "The Popular Crowd," discusses how loneliness increases the likelihood of someone worshiping celebrities. Worshiping of celebrities is not necessarily bad, it can be helpful for those who have a social need that they need satisfied. However, this worshiping can sometimes lead to stalking and violence towards celebrities. Once this happens celebrities are put in danger. Some celebrities receive phone calls, letters, emails, and more from stalkers. They might not feel like this is a sign of danger, but it is. In order for celebrities to remain safe, they need to be educated about dangers that come with having fans.
Celebrities hold a strong power to influence the lifestyle trends of an audience. As members of the entertainment industry, celebrities are looked up to as role models by a large general public. With such high exposure, celebrities essentially hold the power to positively or negatively influence their followers, from fashion trends to behavioral tendencies, the attitudes and lifestyle habits of celebrities influence cultural qualities and the way in which many people function within society. Mindy Kaling’s career started when she became an intern on the popular show “Late Night with Conan O’ Brien”. Mindy was a 19-year-old sophomore at Dartmouth College when she first started her internship.
If a teenager or pre-teen is focused on particular celebrities and their goal is too look like them, it is not difficult to slip into acting like them as well, or at least being influenced by their behavior and perceived attitudes. The media abounds with bad examples of celebrity behavior, from Justin Bibber driving recklessly to Miley Cyrus parading around scantily clothed, and although every celebrity is not a terrible role model, a disproportionate amount of them can be found to have shaky morals and seem to have let the attention that they receive affect their behavior. In addition, the perfect bodies that most of them display are not realistic and in some cases not even naturally attainable, thanks to the modern tools of plastic surgery, augmentations, liposuction, and other cosmetic surgeries. The media too contributes to the unreal portrayal of models and famous people by using airbrushing on pictures and other editing that lead regular people to compare their bodies to images that are not even humanly possible. The Barbie-like models that girls compare themselves to and the ripped and muscled men that boys compare their bodies to are often completely unnatural and the people who have somehow attained them are,
Societal constructs of bodily perfection have a massive influence on both genders and on all ages. If you look at any magazine, you will see women constantly being compared to each other, whether it is in the “who wore it better” section or in the “do’s and don’ts” part of the magazine, comparing body images and overall appearances. All parts of the media that encompasses our daily lives are especially dangerous for young and impressionable teens because they see people being torn down for trying to express themselves, and are thus taught to not only don’t look like “don’ts”, but also look like the “do’s”. This is dangerous in that women in the magazine set very high standards that teens want to emulate, no matter the cost to themselves or their health. Celebrities have the benefit of media to make them appear perfect: Photoshop and makeup artists conceal the imperfections that are often too apparent to the naked eye. Viewing celebrities as exhibiting the ideal look or as idols will, in most cases, only damage the confidence of both young teens, and adults, and warp the reality of what true “beauty” really is. It makes teens never feel truly content with themselves because they will be aiming for an ideal that is physically impossible to attain and one that doesn’t exist in the real
Why is that all blogs or media sites only pay attention to the bad behavior? We see videos of famous people getting drunk, doing drugs, and even being disrespectful. Eventually, we see this domino effect on young girls, they start being rebellious, start to talk back to their parents even go to parties and drink. Nowadays, celebrities are seen as role models to these kids. What kind of example are these celebrities providing to teenagers when they can barely control their life. Role models are supposed to be someone you admire, someone you look up to and try and follow their examples. Not someone who lives a fake life and you barely know. As stated in an article called “Why this generation is so completely obsessed with the idea of Celebrity” Adam Pliskin explains the real reason to why we follow celebrities as much as we do. This is because we secretly want fame ourselves.
“Posts.” Fame is a dangerous Drug: A Phenomenological Glimpse of Celebrity.” N.p. ,n.d. Web 15. Feb 2014
The deception of media consumers allows for the abuse of economic infrastructures of society. An obsession with celebrities’ lives passifies ordinary people in accepting the stratification of the elite businesses and the ordinary citizens. Though pseudo-events and celebrity worship may not be exactly complementary, the similarities of both leaves the public to be utterly vulnerable unless they begin to critically think for themselves.
"Children are influenced by media–they learn by observing, imitating, and making behaviors their own" (APA, 2001, p.1224). Girl’s as young as 4-years sees Britney Spears music clip “Baby One More Time”, who at the time was a 17-year old girl/world pop icon at the time wearing a school uniform showing off her midriff, wearing a lot of makeup and a short skirt. Disney teen icons such as Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana taking personal photos of herself in “sexy” poses and sending it to her ‘older’ boyfriend and then having it all published all over the internet for the entire world to see. Boys also face sexualization too, as has been seen in Calvin Klein ads, where pubescent-looking boys pose provocatively with perfectly sculpted six-pack abs hawking teen fashion These pop culture celebrities both female and male are always in the media, for inappropriate actions and they’re meant to be role models for children. In fact most of these sexualized celebrities are still children themselves. The sad part is it’s not just sexualization being encouraged in the media other negative things such as violence, drug and alcohol use ...
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.... ...
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
Many people involve themselves in forms of fandom, cultural capital, and social media, but how far can you take it before it completely consumes you? When does it, or does it even, change from just being a source of enjoyment to a source of happiness and self-worth? I will be responding against the comment “cults of celebrity, fandom, the accumulation of cultural capital, and abuse of social media are all examples of people turning to others for happiness and self-worth” and arguing that only cults of celebrity, fandom, and abuse of social media are examples of people turning to others. Many people within many cultures have celebrities that they follow and most often this can be completely normal and doesn’t affect someone’s life. However
For years, society has been interested in celebrities to the extent that some are obsessed. Collin Palmer, a high school sophomore, expressed his opinions on celebrities and their so-called bad influences on us. Some of Palmer’s points are agreeable, like how fans of celebrities don’t want to copy their bad behavior and how the gossip gives something to talk about with others, but others are not agreeable, like how being obsessed with celebrities are a healthy escape from reality. Interest in celebrities is healthy, but not obsession. Brad Paisley, an American country singer and songwriter, wrote a song called "Celebrity" mocking celebrities, proving even further that the mistakes celebrities make do not have a huge impact on our behavior.
A Healthy Obsession There are many who would argue that celebrity obsessions are unhealthy. A student named Collin Palmer assumes that our obsession over celebrities isn’t so bad. Another writer, however, Deborah King, in her article titled, “The Impact Celebrities Have On Our Life,” explains the opposite. Although Deborah King’s argument that obsession is unhealthy is correct, Collin Palmer seems to disagree.
They may not like the way they look in the mirror, so they want to look like someone else. Watching media and the environment all influence body image problems. When some teenagers see their friends around them and all the supermodels and stars on TV with their perfect bodies and skin, teenagers want to look like them. Often adolescents are associated with extreme behaviors and are engaging in practices that could be called dangerous.
Years ago, just a few persons would become a legend in their lifetime like Jesus, Socrates, Homer, Alexander the Great due to their virtues, talents or royal lineage. Nowadays it has changed considerably. Technology has the greatest role in our relationship with a one hit wonder, making a habit to have a daily fad of celebrity gossip. While statistics say that society is becoming narcissistic it is also true to say that we are significantly more aware of each individual.