Celebrity ulture - Assignment Example

[Teacher’s Celebrity culture The celebrity lifestyle is the fantasy of almost every little boy and girl, with many carrying this ambition to their elderly years. The image that is presented by celebrities is that of perfection ad a world with no worries or obstacles. Glamour has evolved over the years; however, one aspect of celebrity status has remained constant. The popularity status that is held by celebrities and the attention they receive from their fan base conforms and restricts people in this field of work to a particular lifestyle as they are required to live up to certain standards. Despite what the general consensus among the population might be, celebrity lifestyle is alluring and the majority of individuals at one point or another are imprisoned in this web of fame and fortune (Marshal, n.p). There is money in being a celebrity too, as the sports icons, actors, television stars or musicians are wealthy in their own rights. However, the irony is that this wealth comes from our pockets and yet we crave for this life that we finance. Hence, this raises the question why celebrity culture is so popular among people and why individuals in society continue to sacrifice their last financial resources to attend a Justin Bieber concert or wear the same dress that their favorite celebrity wore to his or her movie premiere. The paper will assess celebrity culture and what makes it enticing and attractive to individuals in the community. The majority of information that has been written expressing celebrity culture is on the basis of societal analysis. A visual and first hand assessment of celebrity culture illustrates this lifestyle as captivating, glittery and fascinating. There are several lessons that an individual can learn from the celebrity culture, the attitude of humans towards this culture and the factors influencing this attitude. Firstly, one of the main things that make celebrity culture so appealing is that it represents pieces of the life that everyone wishes they could have, however, for some reason they are unable to reach these goals and ambitions. This is an indication that society is still very far from perfection. However, it also raises the question on what would happen to society if they had nothing to emulate, such as celebrity culture and were living in a utopia society (Marshal, n.p). In this situation people would not be motivated to do anything and this would be reflected by their actions and their attitudes towards life. Therefore, this shows that despite some of the negative attributes and stereotypes that are associated with celebrity culture, it has a positive motivational aspect in our lives. It stimulates ambition and allows one to work towards something. A study that was carried out illustrated that motivation is one of the main things that’s regulates human behavior (Marshal, n.p). There are also some negative attributes that are associated with the celebrity culture in terms of the message that is portrayed. These attributes can be categorized by the influence they have on different groups of the population. For example, teenagers are prone to external influences and this can be seen by the popularity of many teenage pop sensations such as Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber or Zac Efron in his teens. Hence, the messages that they are given should also be aimed at stimulating socially appropriate behaviors and attitudes. Celebrity culture can have a positive and negative influence on the youth depending on the trends and the message that is spread across to the youth. Studies have been carried out assessing the way celebrity relationships influence youths. Celebrities are known for having short term relationships and failed marriages and this has led to youths losing respect for the institute of marriage. Lewis in his book entitled The Road to Romance & Ruin stated the different attitudes taken by youths and in a survey he stated that the majority of youths follow the relationships of their favorite celebrities (22). In some extremes the youths based their own relationships on these celebrities including the qualities of the partner they chose. Therefore, this shows the impact celebrity culture has on the community particularly the youths who are at very impressionable ages. The influence of celebrity culture is also dependent on the community as assessment on trends has shown that these are frequently culture determined. In a study that was carried out by twitter on hash tags and the pattern that was involved in making these tags, it was discovered that the majority of topics were culture dependent even without being in distinct separated chat rooms. In addition, there were certain culture patterns in the celebrity followings which show that celebrity culture has relations to the cultures within the community. An example can be made with African Americans and the hip hop culture (Marshal, n.p). This industry is dominated by this race and there are more active in following this culture. Celebrity culture can be differentiated among the different groups that exist in society. In example mentioned above, depending on the community many individuals in this cultural group listens to this music and hence tries to emulate the lifestyle that is represented. This factor is sometimes damaging to the community as some lyrical content in the music encourages some reckless behavior and has led to the inhibition of development. The above mentioned points show that it is debatable whether celebrity culture is detrimental or beneficial. A study that was carried out by Markham entitles Celebrity culture and public connection: Bridge or chasm analyzed the influence of celebrity culture on the community (403-421). This paper focused on assessing whether the celebrity culture is a viable route towards engagement in democracy to those who are not engaged. The article performed a data analysis which showed that individuals that were engaged in celebrity culture did not pay attention to politics or other current affairs in the country. This is a pressing issue as the status of the community depends on the combined actions of every individual. The article was written to stipulate anything against individuals who were engaged in this culture but to assess the suggestion that celebrity culture made people more democratic. This shows the detrimental aspect of celebrity culture as it makes people in the community less connected to the real world. There are also arguments against celebrity culture stating that it is an intrusion into the lives of others. However, in the American society there has always been an interest in the lives of others; something that has become part of the community. The majority of things that people in community feel and aspire for are what makes celebrity culture. This point is an illustration that celebrity culture is not something detrimental as it represents the views of a community. If there is a problem with the celebrity culture it is not an issue of the culture itself but the community as it is responsible for sustaining this culture. As motioned above there have been studies carried out assessing the influence celebrity culture has on the youth mentality (Irwin et al., 118-135). There are many different studies there have also been done assessing the roles that the celebrities play in the lives of individuals. A survey found that many individuals base their decisions on the opinions made buy celebrities in different situations that can be as simple as clothes or more serious issues such as relationships or the effectiveness of some treatment method. This is a detrimental aspect of celebrity culture as it indicates that celebrity culture has the ability to misguide the community into making the inappropriate decisions (Irwin et al., 118-135). Hence, in summation, the different studies above show that celebrity culture cannot be directly classified as either beneficial or detrimental as the influences depend on the messages that are portrayed to the community and the attitudes of the community. Celebrity culture can be considered as an indication and representation of the aspirations of the people who are influenced by this culture. Studies have shown that the impact of celebrity culture is dependent on the community and the attitudes of these individuals. The issue of celebrity culture becomes detrimental when negative images are being presented to teenagers or young and impressionable youths. Studies show that youths are largely influenced by the messages that are spread by celebrity culture and this makes them susceptible to the negative influences of the culture. In addition, even adults were shown to make their decisions based on opinions that were made by celebrities; however, they have a better ability to assess the situation than children. It can also be established that celebrity culture has a direct impact on the community hence the community must assess itself as a whole and the things that are emulated and admired. Today the majority of individuals are in search of wealth, glamour and the celebrity status whilst disregarding the spiritual poverty that lies within them. If society was to change its values and ambitions, the celebrity culture would have only beneficial aspects as the people that would be admired would represent things that cohere with things that are beneficial for the community. Works Cited Couldry, Nick, and Tim Markham. "Celebrity culture and public connection: Bridge or chasm?." International journal of cultural studies 10.4 (2007): 403-421. Irwin, Alan, Torben Elgaard Jensen, and Kevin E. Jones. "The good, the bad and the perfect: Criticizing engagement practice." Social Studies of Science 43.1 (2013): 118-135. Lewis, Jon. The road to romance & ruin: teen films and youth culture. Routledge, 2013. 22 Marshall, David. The celebrity culture reader. Routledge, 2012. Read More