The Worship of Celebrity
An Unhealthy Tendency
Public figures benefit from both the divine spotlight shone onto them and from the idolization by everyday commoners. We exude undue attention, praise, and energy onto these seemingly mythical beings, believing that their lives are as much a part of ours, individually, as theirs. They dominate our existence and we have no issue in worshipping their every step.
This unchecked adulation of celebrities is senseless and contributes to the deterioration of our own being. Spending countless hours following Katy Perry on Twitter, tracing her every thought, is a fruitless exercise in allowing our limited time to waste. We hold onto each news article regarding her with the same reverence and interest that should be reserved for the lives that are directly related to ourselves. Why squander time attending to celebrities when we could perform tasks that are healthier and more worthwhile to future success. We are mindless zombies feeding on the eventfulness of people who have spoken as many words to us as God has to Mike Huckabee (could God not have prevented the spreading of false hope and donations from the hopeless passengers on the Huckabee 2016 train?).
The whole celebrity culture thing-I’m fascinated by, and repelled by, and yet I end up knowing about it.
-Anderson Cooper
The media with its tabloids and 24-hour news channels has greatly contributed to the propagation of celebrity, leading to our idolization. We often chide these outlets for broadcasting nonsensical reports on the celebrities that we hold most dearly, but we crave the constant attention heaved upon them. Among the most popular news stories on ABC News’s website, as of May 31st, is a photo gallery of Amal and George Clooney in Rome. The media supplies what will draw the most eyeballs and TMZ-style news stories never disappoint. We desire to know as much about the lives of the Clooneys as of our grandparents.
There is too much trust and effort concentrated on worshipping celebrities who have no direct linking to our everyday living. How often do we feel betrayed by a celebrity due to a controversial action? Whether it’s passionately idolizing a pop star or an athlete such as Ryan Braun for seemingly being an exemplar of honorable behavior in thriving on and off the baseball field. But Braun’s character crumbled when he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and he stooped even lower by disgracing the drug administrator with baseless anti-Semitic remarks. Braun inflicted a debilitating blow to his character, yet it hurt more for his once staunch devotees. We are ashamed of ourselves for rooting and spending countless hours honoring a celebrity we assumed was infallible. We take the same depressing hit to our soul as was taken to the celebrity. We should not exhibit the same flooded emotions as experienced from a breakup of a 5-year romantic relationship with the brutal disloyalty by one of our idols. The actions of a celebrity have a greater effect on the average person than the average person has on a celebrity. But internal disappointment from idolizing celebrities is as customary as the external pride we strive to impose. We have surreal expectations of these public figures to serve as virtual companions, satisfying our mental appreciation for our existence. We psychologically scrapbook the exploits of celebrities with the same importance of the events of our everyday lives. This strenuous habit forces us to exert too much attention away from the happenings that personally matter.
Excessive admiration of celebrities leads to blind adherence to their living, causing us to defend and adopt their behaviors with little thought. We examine the attractive disposition of a Kardashian or Zac Efron, as if their appearance and demeanor should be replicated. By attempting to adopt their appearance, we fall into a hopeless trap of replicating the impossible and setting ourselves for disappointment, crippling our self-esteem. This dependent following stifles individualism and allows us to depend on public figures to shape our personalities. When arguments arise concerning our idol, we imprudently defend our source of worship with no thought that he or she could be wrong or our devotion is misguided. We would go to hell and back for our idol, but we lose all sense of sanity due to our adherence to one that has no concrete impact on the genuine being of our lives.
We apply too much effort in following our favorite celebrity or on a macro level, sports teams. These organizations make Wall-E appear to have as much heart and soul as a human. Teams nickel and dime their fans, treating them with the same respect we gave to the Cuyahoga River. But that does not deter the fan from following and spending as much money on the team as one does on their first-born child. We need an outlet for a self-proclaimed hallow devotion that cannot talk back or challenge our visceral being. But we accept the disrespect and inconveniences inflicted upon us when teams such as the New York Yankees decide to hassle its fans by employing a new home ticket policy that forbids them from printing tickets from home. The new policy causes fans to avoid market dependent third party brokers that fans favor such as StubHub. Yankees COO Lonn Trost displayed his contempt for fans by publically airing frustration in having fans sit in premium locations at Yankee Stadium who have never before sat in such luxury. Who knew that “premium” seating at a stadium contained such grand riches (all-you-can-eat ballpark food and concierge service for a 3 hour game) that must be shielded from the eyes of the unworthy. Yet we idolize teams like the Yankees with the utmost veneration. If only fans treated the Yankees with the same respect and attentiveness that they heave onto their fans.
Companies also are the beneficiaries of gratuitous adoration. The main goal of a company is to produce a profit, yet we get riled up at the announcement of a new product. Each new Apple product is idolized as the second coming that will save us from the perils of our difficult 21st century living. Even though the purpose of these products is shady and heartless in exploiting our everyday activities, we look the other way at these nefarious hidden intentions and praise Apple for their innovation that has as more to do with their future bottom-line than our future well being. A Fortune 500 corporation like Disney is the apple of the eye of numerous admirers. A common ire observed among Disney fans is the current trend of producing live-action remakes of classic animated movies that Disney created decades ago. Some fans are up in arms; peeved by the lack of originality from the studio that prides itself in ingenuity. The anger held by Disney fans is ridiculous since they fail to realize the purpose of Disney, which is to please their shareholders by making a profit. These easy-baked conceived films provide the most optimal grosses for Disney and they won’t halt their endless production, regardless of the uproar from their most ardent fans. Corporate resentment by fervent fans is futile and passionate feelings toward a corporation is as irrational as the concept of a monolith having comparable soul.
But I understand the benefit from having celebrity figures in our lives. They help serve as role models, showing us an appropriate manner to act and excel as we mature. Even though their model of behavior is clearly not duplicable as every success story is different from the next. Public figures also help form the basis of our opinions and personality. We are keen in adopting the character portrayed by celebrities, hoping to serve as much of a model citizen as they appear through their filtered lens. Their opinions, whether it’s a politician such as Bernie Sanders with his progressive agenda or an actor such as Ian McKellan with his views on the future of acting, shape our mindsets in having a richer perspective although it is mainly formed to the benefit of the celebrity.
Celebrities serve as our avatars, projecting an image of ourselves if we had the same exposure. We relish in the accomplishments and breakthroughs attained by our idols, believing that their success is as much our own. Their success justifies our devotion. Even if we lament that we are not the ones in the limelight, we are bloated from the simulated success. Viewing celebrity achievement as our own is as constructive as one spending his days playing video games. We need to detach ourselves from the pervasive virtual reality that we already consume without the help of a newfangled headset.
How can a rational being be ennobled by any thing that is not obtained by its own exertions.
-Mary Wollstonecraft
Public figures are essential cogs, unavoidable as we devour their famed compositions. They provide a necessary role model, especially during our younger years, helping us mold what we deem as suitable behavior. The idolization continues throughout our adult years, yielding an absurd standard to follow and adopt. But hopefully we, as a society, can distance from such excessive idolization of celebrities and depend more on our own well being, paving the way for our own future triumphs and not living vicariously through the prosperity of celebrities that care little about us individually. We need to elevate our self-esteem and intellect by fulfilling more realistic and self-serving tasks than following the appearances and actions of the tangible myths that persist.
