People admiring celebrities isn’t a new notion. History is filled with accounts of people idolizing certain individuals, whether for their physical looks, social status, special abilities, etc. This idolization can and has propped celebrities up on pedestals, creating this idea that celebrities are above others. Hollywood and other entertainment industries are the most prominent examples of this, and the internet has only further perpetuated this.
Celebrity worship has been seen with Jennifer Lawrence, Will Smith, Leonardo Di Caprio, and more recently, Keanu Reeves. Despite upholding celebrities to a high status, people often project certain qualities on these people and then tear them down as soon as their images of said celebrities are broken.
Why do you think people display such attitudes towards celebrities? With the internet being used as an outlet for toxic behavior, how do you think this could change, if at all?
One of the common signs of the fall of Empire is the creation and then adoration of celebrities. Perhaps one of the earliest examples can be found in Ancient Rome, with its panem et circenses shows for the masses. Gladiators, Charioteers and similar gained almost mythical status, with some earning vast fortunes and their sweat being collected and regarded as an aphrodisiac! Rome also glorified chefs...and we are seeing exactly the same today. For anyone interested in taking this topic suggestion, I'd recommend 'Four Horsemen' (2012), which covers this subject (amongst others). It's available to view on You Tube. – Amyus5 years ago
Ooh, this is a good topic! I want to add that one of the biggest changes we're seeing now is that the open-source nature of the Internet allows just about anyone who really wants to to become a celebrity. For instance, thanks to YouTube you can make home videos of yourself and (at least in theory) gain fame and fortune, which just perpetuates the celebrity culture (including its more toxic aspects) even further. – Debs5 years ago
This is a very interesting topic. An aspect of celebrity worship I have always found odd is the whole 'they're just like us' viewpoint and how that becomes a reason to praise them more. It's almost as if there's some sort of erasure of their pre-celebrity past so when the glamorous actress admits she loves eating McDonalds or the buff action hero is afraid of spiders it fuels this worship even though its quite banal. It's almost like normalcy becomes novelty. – JTVersus5 years ago
I think the reason why they admire such celebrities is because they can relate to them in some way. People who idolize strangers often have this notion of them being a perfect person and maybe not even a human ( in my opinion) putting them on this imaginary pedestal. However with social media and the internet it is a lot easier for these celebrities to mess up and get chastised. This could change the narrative in the future among other things. – 1sharmaaja15 years ago