Week 8 Celebrity Culture

As a result of media coverage and new visual technologies, the celebrity culture has been expanded. Over the globalisation and the new media emerged, the perception of the term celebrity had changed from the public. The ‘celebrity’ and ‘celebrity culture’ become ‘closer’ to the ordinary public. In this essay, the specular economy that extends from the contemporary celebrity culture will be introduced and discussed of it is influence on celebrity, celebrity culture. Also, the notion of celebrity and celebrity culture and its change will be explained to develop the trend of celebrity culture in today.

The term of ‘celebrity’ is not simply a noun that refers to a famous or well-known person, but an adjective that signifies that someone possesses the quality of attracting attention (Furedi, 2010). People who are successful in virtually every profession are associated with celebrity status, such as the academic star of universities or the corporate CEOs (Furedi, 2010). ‘Celebrity’ had specifically referred to or been used in different period.

Today’s celebrities are accessible to ordinary public. In thirties and fifties, the typical celebrity was movie star or the sporting hero who have talent (Furedi, 2010). The accomplishment or moral fiber was a prerequisite to fame in past (Harris, 2012). However, at the new breed of celebrities, they became to fame by doing nothing and without talent. Paris Hilton claimed no talent apart from possible photogenicity, however, she still have a list connection kept her in the gossip columns and generated enough buzz for Fox to feature her in The Simple Life (Cashmore, 2006). Madonna, a famous single in the world, but her voice was believed to be electronically enhanced (Marshall, 2010).

Reference:

Cashmore, E 2010, Celebrity/culture, Routledge, New York, pp. 2-4

Furedi, F 2010, Celebrity Culture, Society. Vol. 47 Issue 6, pp. 493-497.

Harris, M 2012, Fame: a P&L Stardom’s changed. So have its benefits, New York Entertainment, retrieved 6 October 2012, < http://nymag.com/arts/all/celebrity-economy/fame-2012-2/ >