Celebrity Culture: Back to Basics

As an unofficial celebrity analyst, I am constantly perusing the blogosphere in search of new and pertinent events that could eventually make their way into a post. However, as I pondered a topic for this week I decided to go basic: what is celebrity culture anyway? While researching this question I stumbled across an interesting forum which contained an assortment of blog posts concerning various aspects of celebrity culture, all tied in to Princess Diana (pictured at left) in honor of the 10-year anniversary of her death.

The first of these was entitled “Diana and the Celebrity Culture We Enjoy” by Graeme Turner, a professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland, Australia, and the author of the book Understanding Celebrity. Turner discussed the idea of parasocial relationships and the feelings of connection people feel toward celebrities, even if in reality there is no tangible relationship. His interesting ideas offered a basic understanding and reasoning behind the fascination the general public has with famous individuals.

The second blog was called “Diana, Versace, and the Celebrity Epidemic” by Maureen Orth, a longtime correspondent for Vanity Fair, and author of the book The Importance of Being Famous. Orth argued that people all over the world are connected through a collective infatuation with celebrities, and that this obsession is perpetuated by the media force-feeding celebrity news down our throats. Orth compares the media’s overindulgence of celebrity gossip with the obesity epidemic and the overindulgence of junk food.

Here are my responses:

Post #1: Response to “Diana and the Celebrity Culture We Enjoy”

A ‘celebrity culture’ unquestionably exists, even if many in the world of academia hate to acknowledge it. The Diana phenomenon proved to any in doubt that regular people have strong, vested interests in the lives of celebrities, or ‘parasocial relationships,’ as you call them. I found this idea very accurate and interesting. Cultural consumers are not content watching celebrities only at public events such as premieres, but feel the urge to know intimate details of their lives, making the relationship that much more real to them.

I was also interested in the “life work” argument that some academics make. While this idea may be somewhat true, I definitely do not think the majority of consumers are examining their own lives as a result of following those of celebrities. While modern-day celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, U2 front man Bono, and Leonardo DiCaprio are deeply involved in global causes (and anyone who follows celebrity news is well aware of this), I doubt it has caused a major revision in the lives of average individuals. I rather believe that celebrity watching usually does not have any socially or culturally redeeming values, but exists for pure entertainment. The most recent example would be Britney Spears, the world’s favorite train wreck. Ms. Spears should be a role model to no one, but her photo is still splashed across the covers of gossip magazines every week.

Your post is well-constructed and offers some interesting points. The idea of parasocial relationships is especially fresh and I would love to read more about it.

Post #2: Response to “Diana, Versace, and the Celebrity Epidemic”

There is no doubt that the world is obsessed with celebrities. People around the world are kept up to date on celebrity gossip by countless TV shows, gossip blogs, and magazines 24 hours a day. This communal infatuation and the media presence it requires has indeed created a global connection, made utterly apparent when Diana died. The intense reaction to her death demonstrated how everyday people felt connected to her, just as they do to celebrities today.

However, while I completely agree with your statement that “today we are all one besotted planet feeling the connection of celebrity,” and also with the idea that the way we cater to celebrities has perpetuated their out-of-control and sometimes diva-like behavior (example: the Lindsay Lohan incident), I do not believe that celebrity gossip is force-fed to us by the media. Yes, the media closely follows famous people’s every move and reports back to us using photos as proof, but we as a public demand such scrutiny, thus creating an ugly cycle between media and consumer.

I also believe that the infatuation with famous people is not new, nor has it exploded in recent years. People have always been interested in one another, but the technology which allows global celebrity gossip has only been made available fairly recently, creating the illusion that this is a new phenomenon.

Overall, your post is very interesting and thoughtful, and I love the comparison between the comics of yesterday and the celebrity air-heads of today as entertainment.