Has Our Pervasive Interest In Celebrity Videos and Gossip Undervalued Celebrity Culture?

I have varying views about the massive use of celebrity videos, gossip and rumours in today’s society.

I should start off by saying that I have nothing against the celebrity culture in the western world, I do believe the use of the word ‘celebrity’ and the connections with it have become undervalued over the years. When I was a kid, a celebrity was a title that was related to people who actually had some kind of distinct achievement, such as explorers, scientists and a select few musicians. In the year 2011 the term ‘celebrity’ almost had no value at all – like a devalued currency. These days it seems like anyone who vaguely comes close to a television camera is a celebrity.

My feeling is that with the large volumes of celebrity videos, photographs and rumours about these people, it has devalued and corroded away at what people’s notion of a celebrity is.

These days there seems to be no clear difference between being famous and being a celebrity. My view is that fame and notoriety should come from significant achievement. Today there doesn’t seem to be any qualifying criteria needed to become a celebrity. Just turning up and waving as you walk past a TV camera almost seems to be sufficient.

As a society, we need better role models – those who have achieved great things to be seen more regularly in the limelight.

Celebrity status is desired by many people, in particular amongst young people. Despite this, celebrities often seem unhappy about their fame and status.

Any form of media can be used as a channel for creating someone with celebrity status. In ancient religious books and documents, they are packed with examples of people who are famous by the general public. Many of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt created their own notoriety to ensure the success of their own families for the decades ahead.

Celebrity culture used to be confined to religious figures and royal families, but it is now widespread across all sections of society. Businessmen, academics and scientists now join musicians, singers and sport stars as ‘celebrities’.

Mass media, and in particular celebrity videos and photos on the internet have increased the coverage of celebrities. As a result of this, being a celebrity now brings with it even more power than ever before. These days, celebrity culture is a business relationship during which the performers gain huge financial reward in exchange for selling their intimacy to the public. The multi-million dollar sports contracts that athletes gain, pale into insignificance compared to the money they get from sponsorship.

Teachers in Europe are concerned that their pupils’ fixation with sports stars, actors and socialites is affecting their school progress and restricting their career aspirations.

According to one recent survey, about sixty percent of the teachers said that their pupils most aspired to be like David Beckham.

More than a third of the pupils wanted to be famous, just for the sake of being famous.

Over thirty percent of the teachers surveyed said that their pupils modelled themselves on Paris Hilton.

The writer is a frequent author of articles related to celebrity culture, and is also the owner of a website containing celebrity videos [http://www.celebritysequence.com].