Research Paper on "Celebrity Culture Since the Early Times Mankind"

Research Paper 5 pages (1716 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Celebrity Culture

Since the early times mankind has given great importance to fashion and the concept of fashion has permanently undergone changes as people constantly renewed their style. Looking back we can observe that people's clothing and thinking has greatly varied from an epoch to another. In general, when trying to adjust their personality to their appearances and to what others expect and like, people tend to get their inspiration from the most prominent people in society. In the early ages, the most famous persons were the kings, pharaohs and similar kinds of rulers. In the present, the people that mostly influence today's society in what concerns the fashion industry are celebrities like singers, actors, sportsmen and people who are usually present in the media.

Experts had determined that one of the first famous most marketed persons of the world had been Alexander the Great. His will to become famous had pushed him in having artists make drawings and sculptures of his battles as well as historians writing about the events.

The United States are known among others for their power and for their large number of celebrities. However, it is also known for a fact that the people here are very easily influenced by those famous personalities. Starting with the declaration of independence and with America's first presidents, people had begun to look up to the public faces. The famous people at the time had been presented as having all the best qualities that one can have. George Washington for example, embodied knowledge, intelligence, and the patriotism which had created America. (Henderson) the famous Americans during the Civil War had also been representatives of the American nation by being responsible of the fate of their country and determined to reach their goals.

Subsequent to people seeing their leaders as being worthy to follow, they've gradually started to move the focus from their leaders and instead they've turned their attention to the celebrities presented by the media. The image of a hero has been modified and people started to reproduce what they saw in the media. With the unprecedented development of newspapers and the invention of the radio during the early 20th century people became charmed with the innovative concepts. The first famous people to be admired in the media had been the inventors, wealthy people, and other hero-like figures.

As time passed, people realized that those who were once famous had faded in time and new public figures had emerged in order to replace them. It had become clear that most celebrities would not last much in the media with new talents constantly appearing. People developed a thirst for new heroes which brought new ideas and thus made it more impressive. Again, the U.S. had been a place rich with revolutionary things in every domain. People from all across the world kept flowing into the country hoping to reach the success of the heroes that they had heard about, aiming for the "American dream."

The heroes getting most of the public's attention had been the artists of the time that performed on stage. The fact that the world had changed was obvious since people were now demanding to find out more and more in the news about stage performers that had been considered licentious a few decades before. The world of theatre had become a main supplier for the news in the media.

As if the stars had not been advertised enough, the TV era would prove to bring a new revolution in the business. The public had been astounded and enchanted to see its favorite stars performing in front of it on the screen in the living room.

The emergence of newspapers, radios, and later that of countless television stations had lead to a culture supported by celebrities. People became obsessed with constantly consulting the news and with watching the films which captivated the world's attention at the time. The culture celebrity had appeared as a result of the American public transforming its concepts from a producing society to a consumer one. (Henderson)

With the media promoting a lifestyle based on blueprints, man began to relate to patterns in every domain regardless of its nature. Even with following the models in the media, man had always felt the need for distinctiveness as a mean to reach the celebrity status. Studies had been made during the early 20th century in order to determine what had pushed people away from admiring hero-like political figures towards the adoration of celebrity-stars coming from the entertainment area. The results had shown that people preferred to favor people that had been made famous with the help of the media because of the audience's identification with its stars. The celebrity culture industry had been at its beginning in the 1920s and people had fully accepted it. The industry also proved to be extremely profitable as it had now caught the public taste for sensational as well as its eagerness to reach for the stars. (Henderson)

With the coming of international stars such as Charlie Chaplin, people enjoyed the new somewhat clever comedy films. The film-producing city of Hollywood soon brought to the whole world some of the greatest stars people had ever seen. Hollywood's actors had also produced a new fashionable lifestyle as the advanced filming technology of the 30's had made them virtually flawless. Moreover, the theater era which had been extremely stylish just a few decades before seemed to have lost its charm to the captivating films of Hollywood. Another fascinating thing during the 30's was that anyone could afford a radio, and, thus, anyone could welcome the voices of radio celebrities into their homes. Both the radio and the television, which appeared during the 50's, had shortly begun to influence the audience. What is damaging concerning celebrity culture is that it influences people in failing to recognize true celebrities from fake ones.

There are sources claiming that during the recent years the people had abandoned the praising of celebrities in favor of going back to their roots. It would appear that people now appreciate book reading and going to culture festivals more instead of watching TV. Most probably the rumors are false in an era in which governments spend more time promoting other profitable things instead of promoting literature. Studies have shown that the number of book clubs has fallen during the last years in spite of the fact that the book industry is producing more and more books. (the Evening Standard)

Today, the celebrities have practically begun to sell their lives on television and by this added gave further proof that the world is still hooked on the celebrity-culture concepts. Americans and the rest of the world after them, feel that they enter the private world of celebrities through the talk-shows and through the reality-shows that they watch. Celebrities normally choose to appear on TV show where they talk about their life mostly for money or for more fame. The wages the celebrities receive for presenting their personal life contain astronomical figures.

Celebrities also receive large sums of money for the advertising that they do. The commercial world today is largely based on paying celebrities to promote their products. Naturally, the public is more inclined to buy products which are advertised by celebrities in favor of other products. The celebrity culture has also created monsters, as some common people were influenced into taking their passions beyond the screen and turn to crime after having been influenced by the media.

Being a celebrity in the 21st century also means that your personal life if full of stress caused by Paparazzi, fans and constant public events. Celebrities today are famous for the public, as normal people are addicted to finding out absolutely everything about celebrities. As a result, Paparazzi had emerged, and, with them, celebrities are being threatened of being caught as they make a wrong step. From there on, people are fascinated with the happening, and the news travel around the world with the help of the media. However, when considering the case of Princess Diana's death as a result of her car being chased by Paparazzi, one can observe how people have no limits when concerning their will to enter the personal life of celebrities.

In the present, celebrities in Hollywood are basically being worshiped by people around the world. However, the celebrity status today is far different from what it used to be. While the famous theater artists in the beginning of the 20th century had been replaced by film stars after approximately two decades, celebrities today usually lose their celebrity status from year to year. The celebrity status has thus become more volatile than ever (Jill Neimark).

As Graham Norton describes, being a celebrity today takes a lot of effort, but, in the same time, can be awfully pleasing. Everyone has dreamed about becoming a celebrity at one point of their lives and there are cases of rich people willing to generously pay their way into the… READ MORE

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