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Introduction
In today’s world, celebrities are more well-known and powerful than ever before. They garner a mass following as their every move is seen by the public eye. In the context of mass media, the question of why young people find celebrities so fascinating is a puzzling one. In this essay, I examine Lebron James and his ever growing celebrity. To do so I must define “celebrity” as I argue that we are so obsessed with celebrities because of our desire to live vicariously through them and our envy of their pleasurable, luxurious lifestyles.

What is a “Celebrity?”
There are all kinds of different famous people in the world but we classify them all as celebrities. A good definition of celebrity comes from McQuail (2010) as he refers to a celebrity as someone who can communicate a message with a large amount of the population. McQuail states a celebrity is a person who has been an “object of adulation and fandom” (p. 550). Adulation and fandom will lead to an increasingly large amount of exposure, envy, and obsession from society.
Envy and Idealization of Celebrities
As young people, we are a very goal oriented society. Perhaps a goal that every young person has at one point is that of becoming famous and achieving recognition. Lebron James got this at a very young age, as he has been followed around by cameras and reporters since age 14. Dubbed the best high school basketball player ever, Lebron was given the nickname ‘the chosen one’ and put on the cover of the magazine Sports Illustrated at age 16. More people came to watch him play high school basketball than they did to see the local NBA team: The Cleveland Cavaliers. As Lebron’s game progressed, so did the pressure bestowed on him especially when he was selected nu...

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...he public eye they live an authentic and ordinary life but are still able to do extraordinary things once they are in the limelight.

Conclusion
The power that celebrities have over the younger population is related to goals and aspirations the youth have. Having fame and fortune is a dream that every kid has. We envy celebrities and mimic their every move. We know about their personal lives and keep tabs on them. We envy their lives but are joyful when they fail. Lebron James has never met most of the people who despise his every move and yet those people wouldn’t care to meet him. Schadenfreude and envy are the two reasons why society is so captivated with celebrities. Whether you envy a celebrity or cheer for their failure, you are expanding their fandom. And for Lebron, the hatred has become the standard but more importantly, so has winning NBA championships.

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