Celebrity Culture Is Getting Toxic
The reason why society is on a downwards spiral
“Celebrities are becoming more relatable.” I’ve been hearing this all the time recently, and generally, I’ve agreed. Normally surrounded by cameras, paparazzi, and other important people, being stuck at home due to Covid-19 has encouraged celebrities to show a much more human side of themselves, one that the average person doesn’t get to see very often. For example, instead of delivering monologues at the glamorous Rockefeller Center in New York, surrounded by directors and producers, Jimmy Fallon now tapes the Tonight Show in his average-sized house alongside his family. Instead of touring the country and performing in front of millions of adoring fans, John Legend now live streams virtual concerts alone. It’s actually pretty inspiring.
And then there’s Kanye West. Kanye “Chick-Fil-A” West. Kanye “Make America Great Again” West. And most recently, Kanye “I’m running for president” West. He always makes headlines for the most mind-boggling things, and from what I’ve seen, reactions to his antics range from laughter to frustration to despair.
And yet — few stop and think about why he behaves in this way. And very few pick up on the much larger trend within today’s celebrity culture that Kanye is a part of. Let’s talk about it.
Historically, many celebrities have taken on some sort of leadership role in society to improve their image, whether that means turning to advocacy, campaigning for social change, pushing philanthropy, or leading some other initiative. And to a large extent, this culture still exists right now: as I described above, many are currently using their influence to raise money for COVID relief, fight civil injustices, or to help the community in some other way. After all, doing so boosts their reputations (though I’m sure there are a lot of good intentions here).
But recently, a new version of celebrity culture — celebrity culture 2.0, if you will — has emerged. Rather than trying to make themselves look like heroes, this group (including clout-chasers like Kanye West, Elon Musk, and Logan Paul), does and says the dumbest and most controversial things possible, like tweeting “I’m running for president,” suggesting to nuke Mars, and making fun of suicide.
Sure, it might be tempting to write these individual people off as stupid or ignorant, but they’re anything but. In actuality, their behavior indicates a radical shift in the mind of the celebrity. In celebrity culture 2.0, a good reputation is no longer the goal. Publicity is.
It might be a hard pill to swallow, but it’s hardly surprising. Kanye West needs publicity to sell more albums. Elon Musk needs publicity to market his companies. Logan Paul needs publicity to get views on YouTube. Logically, it makes sense.
But why did this shift occur? To answer that, we need to go back to 2016 and examine the king of celebrity culture 2.0 — Donald Trump.
Before he ran for president, Trump was your stereotypical billionaire celebrity. He inherited a significant amount of wealth, made more off of real estate, and created a business empire — all while bullying his employees and harassing women. Someone like this was never — I repeat, never — supposed to turn to politics; after all, celebrities — especially rich ones — do not mix with politics.
Or that’s what we thought.
Despite all the racism, sexism, bigotry, and general incompetence Trump appeared to show, he still managed to win the 2016 presidential election. And by doing so, he made a statement: a statement that generating drama and upending societal norms is both acceptable and a sound business strategy.
And on that day — November 8th, 2016 — celebrity culture 2.0 was born.
Since then, other big names, trying to expand their brands, have followed Trump’s lead to garner media coverage. And the scary thing is, it’s working. Instead of turning away, people have paid more and more attention. With every act of stupidity, our celebrities get richer and more popular.
In the last few years, celebrity culture 2.0 has been slowly eroding the moral pillars that we, as a society, used to value. It has replaced dignity with scandal, honesty with corruption, and hard work with incompetence — and we’ve become numb to it. Though many people — including other celebrities — have tried to push it away, it still manages to force its slimy tentacles down our throats.
If we want to restore societal morality and ethics, we need to say no to the drama and suppress destructive celebrity culture. And to do that, follow one simple rule: don’t support toxic celebrities. Don’t watch their Youtube videos. Don’t like their tweets. Don’t follow their instagram accounts. Don’t read their news articles. If we add fuel to their fire, their power and influence will fester like a sore. But if we’re careful about the celebrities we support, we can build a more positive and respectable social climate.
Let’s all pitch in together.
