Consuming Celebrity Culture

by max blunt at 03:00PM (CET) on March 20, 2007

The celebrity is 'someone who is well-known for his well-knownness', a name renowned more for charisma than for heroic achievement In this 'Cult of Celebrity', superficial images replace ideals of virtue in a growing passion for celebrity itself. The sociologist Jean Baudrillard suggests that the 'Cult of Celebrity' is part of a larger trend towards living in the 'ecstasy of communication' We are bombarded by a succession of surface images in the media that do not connect with reality As a result, the distinction between what is real and what is imaginary disintegrates In effect, the beauty portrayed in images of celebrities becomes 'more real than real' in our consumer culture

Fame is not a new phenomenon. Characters of renown were admired in Ancient Greek and early Christian cultures.

Military, political and romantic heroes were worshipped similarly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Tales of their achievements formed the basis of the pedestal on which they were raised.

However, the 'Graphic Revolution' of the twentieth century heralded profound changes in the nature of stardom. Developments in photographic and cinematic technologies allowed images to be mechanically reproduced for mass dispersal in the media.

The celebrity now became 'someone who is well-known for his well-knownness', a name renowned more for charismatic beauty than for heroic achievement. In this 'Cult of Celebrity', superficial images began to replace ideals of virtue in a growing passion for celebrity itself. LINK