Living in a technological era has
given us easy access to electronic gadgets that makes it easy for us to keep
up-to-date with latest celebrity information.
I constantly find myself reading up on celebrity news just to know what
my favourite celebrities are up to. In
normal existence, a life of drugs and short-term relationships is not ideal but
those behaviours are seen as normal and uncritical to fans of the particular celebrities. Even though celebrities are people just like
us, society has put them on a pedestal in which they are now deemed as special
and most people seem to struggle trying to look like them. The topic of celebrity culture reminds me of one of the songs
by Miley Cyrus I liked while growing up called Ordinary Girl. I found that because she talks about being a
normal ordinary girl in the song, it made me feel better about not being as
special as the celebrities where perceived to be. Marshall argues that 'celebrity
has developed
into a particularly powerful and pervasive trope for contemporary culture'
(2013 p.1). The title of being a
celebrity has become more of a brand than what it is actually supposed to
be. Most people now see celebrities as a
powerful tool to society. This is
because of the influence that they have to the global society, which seems to
get more powerful as technology progresses.
Global celebrities have indirectly shaped today's society and
have affected the way people behave or present themselves. Celebrities
like, Rihanna, Beyoncé and even Miley Cyrus can easily set up trends that people
feel they need to follow. Rihanna for instance has deeply impacted today's
society and has by far affected the way her fans want to present themselves.
I would confess that the way she sets up trends sometimes makes me feel
the need to represent myself in the manner that she does. I also find that most people are criticized
for trying to look or act like her. For
example, it seems fine for her to smoke drugs like marijuana in her music
videos or everyday life but society would criticize a fan for trying to do the
same. Another example is her red hair
she got in 2010, many fans were criticized for doing the same and were told it
was not an ideal hairstyle even though they praised it on the celebrity. Rihanna is one celebrity I’d say has affected
the behaviors of many girls. An
anonymous writer stated in teen inks that a Newsweek poll found ‘77% of
Americas believe that celebrities have too much of an influence on young girls’
(2011). Fans seem to praise Rihanna for what she does and sadly feel the need
to be like her. Other celebrities that
have made an impact on people are Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus.
video source here
This video of Miley Cyrus twerking has in
my opinion set up a trend and made some fans feel the need to follow suit.
Taylor
Swift is also one celebrity who through her music lyrics
and what we know about her has made teenagers think there is nothing wrong with
quickly falling in and out of love.
Due to technology and increase in use
of social media, people are able to display their personas online. Marshall
explains that this public presentation of oneself is seen through the 'two-way
mirror of projection' of which it has affected how we are slowly 'moving into
the specular economy' (2010, p498). Marshall further argues that this has
affected how we want to present ourselves and how we want others to perceive us
(2010, p499). Similarly to Marshall’s
argument, it is sad to see how much celebrities influence their fans to be
destructively skinny, muscly or ‘good looking’ by inserting harmful substances
in their bodies (Teen inks, 2011). This is evidently seen
in the way society talks and how they present themselves through constant use
of hash tags in spoken language that has been adapted
through the many celebrities we follow.
Society also tries to present an impossible standard of beauty manly
because we’ve seen celebrities use Botox and many medical substances to enhance
their looks.
I think that with the influence celebrities have on society, it is imperative
for them to be careful with what they share to the public in order to create a
long lasting good impression especially to people that look up to them and try
to copy them. Teen Inks (2011) states
that in a survey conducted, ‘88% to 92% of the top
twenty-five box office hits since 1995 have contained tobacco use.’ It is sad to see how much celebrities have
glamorized smoking in the media and are setting an example for supporters
everywhere that it is acceptable to smoke.
Just like celebrities are always
under surveillance, I in some way feel like I need to portray a good image to
the world because am constantly being watched over. Instagram and Facebook
for instance have given its users the opportunity to display themselves to the
world. Just a couple of months ago, one of my friends asked me to join
keek which is a media channel that allows people to share 36second videos.
Going back to my keek profile and the videos I've shared reminds me of
Marshall's argument on surveillance. I find myself always trying to
find the perfect background and trying to look my best before I can share a
video of myself. I recently had this
conversation with a friend and it was funny to see how even YouTube gurus who
are now deemed as ‘celebrities’ also create an impression on their fans who try
to copy what they do; from the way they wear their make-up to how they dress
including what kind of people they date.
It is for this reason that some of them constantly try to create a good impression
because they know they are constantly under surveillance as we are always
watching what they do.
References
list
Author anonymous, 2011, ‘Celebrities and Their
Influence’, Teen Inks, retrieved October 11 2013, http://teenink.com/opinion/entertainment_celebrities/article/82342/Celebrities-and-Their-Influence/
Marshall P. D,
2010, 'The Specular Economy', Springer Science and Business Media, pp498-499
Marshall P.D.2013,
'Persona Studies: mapping the proliferation of the public self', Journalism,
p.1
