The media and celebrity worship

Last time I talked about Today Tonight and the Fallen Stars segment. Now this is about the media and the celebrity hype in general.

Today we are living in a society that glorifies celebrities. Well it is mostly the media that does that. They do a perfectly good job at it too. However it doesn't mean that it is an accurate portrayal or they are perfect. In fact, far from it. For example, the person that we see in front of the camera on our favourite TV show is most likely different that the one we see out on the weekend spending time with those close to them. I don't think some people tend to grasp that concept at all.

Some people tend to take being a fan too far as they may begin stalking them at their homes. In a couple of cases, they have even tried to assassinate them. Remember the John Lennon, Jodie Foster and Rebecca Schafer cases. These are just some examples of when people take celebrity worship a step too far. This may not be a popular opinion but I believe the media is somewhat to blame.

Why is the media to blame perhaps. Everywhere we go whether we are doing our grocery shopping at the local supermarket or watching TV at home,we see faces of celebrities. They are portrayed as these superficial beings and when they don't live up to our expectations, the public begins to scruntinise them and some even resort to hateful messages. Umm..seriously first and foremost, celebrities are human beings just like us. They need security, shelter, food etc like we do. The only difference is that their jobs are publicised. Now I know that they will earn higher wages than the majority of us will in our lifetime but that does that mean that they are superior beings.. of course not. Sometimes, the media don't even get their facts straight about certain issues regarding celebrities or they sensationalise it as I said in my previous post.

 A typical Woman's Day cover

(Courtesy of Newswire.nz)

It is even worse when celebrities die. After a lifetime of humiliation by the media, some of us tend to glorify them to the point of sainthood after they have passed on. Some examples include "they were lovely, always generous" etc. I mean if they were really that type of person, fine but unfortunately some of them weren't really like that at all. I think we should have respect for the dead but not to the point of glorification. It is kind of scary if you really think about it. As much as I have admiration for some celebrities, I don't want celebrity worship to become a religion. 

The media and celebrity hype tends to be worse in some parts of Asia than in the Western world. One time I read about an actress who passed on from cancer and the media reported a few months prior to her death "that she was cured from cancer because she went to a concert with her boyfriend" or something along those lines. I was like WTF, you can't be serious. That is called enjoying the best quality of life as possible. If this was true, then there would a cure for cancer now but currently there isn't.

It doesn't end there as in the last few years or so, this worship has extended to social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram. Some fans consistently ask their favourite star "please follow me back" or "Can I get a follow". In most cases, this is not going to happen as the purpose of some of these celebs is not to interact with their fans but to promote their CD, DVD, book etc to you. 99.9% of the time, this seems to be the case as their ratio can be 500 k followers : 300 following. You almost have zero chance of these celebs following you back unless you happen to know someone they know or it may come down to pure luck. In fact when a celebrity posts a status on their site, you don't generally see them responding to their fans. Yeah I know they are busy people, but at least make some time for those who helped them be where they are today. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but celebrities are part of a business. They are there to make the product more appealing. Or if you would like an intangible example, when you attend one of their concerts, it is a service as you are paying and they are performing their end of the bargain for you by giving you an enjoyable few hours of entertainment and fun. 

Don't get me wrong, it is great when a celebrity influences your life for the better but just don't fall for the media hype to glorify and worship them. Maybe not all media outlets do this but there are many that do. 

Do you think the celebrity hype by the media is a distraction from something much bigger or is it a good thing?

Until next time,

Laura xx