The Cult of Celebrity - Part Two

While I can quite easily explain the phenomenon of the “Cult of Celebrity” and locate the point from where I think it originates, I can't quite decide why this need remains. Having never experienced the hysteria of meeting one of these magical, walking, talking paradoxes, I still find it all very confusing. I would genuinely like to know what that feels like.... experimentally. Generally, when I'm curious about something or I have some sort of quest for knowledge I like to really throw myself into the subject and get as much first hand experience as I can. Just call me the Robert DeNiro of life experience.... I'm a 'method learner'. But you won't catch me within a ten mile radius of a Justin Bieber concert, even for scientific purposes. I think that would be genuinely terrifying. I often wonder what it must have been like to be in the audience at the Beatles Shea Stadium Concert in 1965 when the band couldn't even hear what they were playing over the deafening screeching and crying from the crowd. Apparently they got so frustrated at not being able to hear a note they were playing, they resorted to joking and playing their instruments with various other body parts. What was the point at that stage? No one was listening anyway! So when we're discussing the “Cult of Celebrity” it would be unfair to assume that those who do the idolizing are the only victims in this scenario. As with so many of our modern societal defects, this isn't a black and white, good vs evil dilemma.

Now of course the leader of the pack will always want to impress his or her followers. They have been built up to need to be constantly reminded that they are still the strongest, most courageous, attractive and powerful one available for that role. They don't want their position usurped or poached by an up-and-coming younger, fresher model, and so they will naturally feel the need to cling to their loyal followers/fans as fervently and for as long as possible. Nobody wants to 'fall from grace'. Once the celebrity has been pushed and shoved and milked for absolutely everything they're worth, the next Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber will be there, waiting to take the reins and begin the cycle again. The pressure must be enormous, (particularly if the “celebrity” is young and not very well grounded) no doubt added to by pushy parents, agents and greedy investors all just waiting for their slice of the pie. The unnatural aspect of the “Cult of Celebrity” means that inevitably, the one who has been adored and idolised, is destined to a life of dwindling self esteem and a huge gap, which was once filled with seemingly endless devotion and loyalty, friends and constant praise is created. Their life now sounds like quite a lonely place to be.  

Even during the “celebrity's” brief sojourn in the intense limelight, the more they are revered, the further they are forced to retreat. Isolation, paranoia and being removed from reality are hardly attractive lifestyle selling points. I'd choose my anonymity in an instant. Likewise, the more the “celebrity” is forced to retreat, the more the public tend to lean towards being wary of them.... they seem “strange these days”, “they've really changed”, “there must be drugs involved” etc etc. In reality, whether there's drugs involved or not, the “celebrity” has possibly had no choice but to withdraw. You can blame them for putting themselves in such a public position in the first place, which is an argument I've heard many times, but personally, I don't believe that gives the media (or the fans for that matter) the right to invade the person's private time. I find it interesting how in so many aspects of life, there are such strict, clearly black and white lines that everyone knows you must not cross, but something so basic as respecting another human being's right to privacy isn't one of them. And yes, despite the fact that I mentioned Paris Hilton above, and I don't particularly like her or what her 'fame' is based on, even she is entitled to her own privacy (although I'm not sure she's too interested in having any).

So here is the paradox that is the modern “celebrity”... a person sold to us as one we should all want to be; the thing we should strive for. We can attain their beauty and success if we just follow them on twitter and buy their products, when in reality these people, often naively and with the best intentions in the world, are paranoid cash cows who's days in the spotlight really are limited and who for the most part, are completely unapproachable and unreachable. And to be fair, their wealth, beauty and success is something that very very few of us will ever attain. If these things were attainable for Joe Soap, the hierarchy of the Cult Of Celebrity would collapse and chaos would ensue! We would all have dvds out in time for christmas and no one would make a cent. It's business, cold and simple and at the cost of human happiness. We are being sold a lie, which is nothing new, but what I can't understand, is why isn't more being done to put a stop to this absolutely pointless and damaging behaviour? Why aren't we giving our kids proper role models? Why are so many young people these days, despite the wonderful world of the internet and all that knowledge right at their fingertips, trying to learn about the world they're living in, instead of googling what type of cuisine Gaga is wearing today or discussing Kim Kardashian's divorce on Facebook, and looking to these people for guidance on important life issues? The young mind is so impressionable, and for good reason.... kids wouldn't make it to adulthood without being highly receptive to instruction and guidance. So where they get and take that guidance from is more important than most of us realise. 

The damage that “The Cult of Celebrity” inflicts on the fans that get swept up in it's madness is probably a lot more apparent and maybe it's easier to see this side of the coin with a certain amount of empathy. But whatever way you look at this situation, it points to an unnatural and unhealthy behavioural pattern on both sides. As I said, to worship or obsessively admire another human being, by definition, is wrong. The most staunchly religious person should agree that even their Rabbis, Priests, Imams, Monks etc should never be worshipped (and although their reasoning, I think, is that you must allocate all available worship for god... the point still stands). But without wanting to draw religion into this discussion, it would be wrong of me to not address the obvious correlation between the misplaced adoration of “celebrities” and the similar reverence our human race has historically held for deities and other supernatural beings. We simply have to acknowledge that there is a striking similarity between the two behaviours, however flawed both may be.

With the increasing rejection of faith in organised religions, especially in younger generations, and the apparent need that many people still seem to have to want to 'connect with a spiritual side', they seem to firstly create a sense of lack (i.e. I need to feel the need to find god in my life) and thereafter a sense of needing to fill that gap, I wonder if people are transferring their need for deity and spiritual guidance to "celebrities". I.e. They have lost faith in the theological beliefs they thought they had or feel they should have and have filled the gap that god has left with another more.... real..... being, who they carelessly decide to trust to tell them how to live their lives from now on. Again, we're treading on very dangerous ground here. Take a look at the countless atrocities that our race has committed against each other since the invention of the gods, in their names, or specifically to honour their so called teachings or doctrines. The goal being to impress them in some way and get us one step closer to their divinely, seductive promised land.

I don't see acts such as these, or at least the intentions behind them as being much different to the bizarre and worrying obsessions we appear to develop with “celebrities”. Consider Mark David Chapman, who took some sort of deluded offence to John Lennon's fame and success and justified taking his life. If you need further examples of just how ineptly damaging the glorification of “celebrities” and the types of conduct this can rouse from us can be, just consider the disturbingly closeted life of someone like Britney Spears, the murder of Jill Dando, Michael Douglas with his stalker, Dawnette Knight, who threatened to slice Catherine Zeta Jones like a piece of meat.... or the the astonishingly creepy case of John Hinckley Jr., who tried to assassinate then - US President, Ronald Reagan, in an attempt to impress a young Jody Foster after seeing her performance as a teenage prostitute in the film 'Taxi Driver'. In a letter written to Foster before the assassination attempt, Hinckley wrote...

“Over the past seven months I've left you dozens of poems, letters and love messages in the faint hope that you could develop an interest in me. Although we talked on the phone a couple of times I never had the nerve to simply approach you and introduce myself....

...the reason I'm going ahead with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you.”

Obviously Hinckley is an extreme case, but quite an interesting one. There is huge debate over whether his lenient sentencing on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to insanity meant that justice was truly served. Neither he, nor anyone else except the psychiatrists hired by the defence believed he was insane. Clearly the man has serious issues, but there is a difference between lurid psychological problems and insanity. He knew exactly what he was doing and in fact described his actions as “the greatest love offering in the history of the world”.

In an extreme and shockingly grisly way, Hinckley wrote honestly about the type of idolisation and worship we have developed and come to accept in our society. His feelings of not having 'the nerve' to approach the person he held in such high esteem are something we can all understand. Whether we experience these feelings ourselves or we simply witness them, gobsmacked at the face-licking idiocy, from a distance, we know this happens.

What makes this subject so fascinating to me, I suppose, is my curiosity about human behaviour. The characters that make up this engaging enactment of our different psychological traits are all equally interesting. The “celebrities”, the fans, the managers and agents working behind the scenes to ensure the cash keeps rolling in, the media; without whom “celebrities” couldn't even exist. All cogs that run continuously and voraciously to keep the cult alive and well. I find it intriguing and horrifying at the same time. I can't necessarily answer the questions I have on the subject, but I wish it was something that was more widely discussed and questioned. Why do we find it so difficult to accept that there is no inherent need to cleave to the styles and beliefs of another person to find our way through this world? If the absolute quintessential success of life is to be famous, purely for fame's sake, then who or what is to blame for giving people the absolutely absurd notion that fame brings happiness and fulfilment? Surely fulfilment comes from satisfying your potential, using your talents, meeting people, gaining and sharing the most experience, love and knowledge from the world during the short time you have here? So why waste that short amount of time directing all your energy towards another human being, as opposed to bettering yourself? I don't even think this is something that has occurred to me recently, or since I turned 30, or even since I left school. I have never subscribed to the idea that someone else could know what's better for me than I do.

I'm not suggesting that every over-enthusiastic Bieber fan will go to Hinckley levels of obsession. Neither am I saying that being a 'Little Monster' means you can't have an independent thought. I just have serious questions about the self worth of these followers, that they truly believe their icons are worthy of such fervent elevation, without ever knowing them on any kind of personal level. How does this affect their real-world friendships and relationships and the standards by which they judge other people? How easy would it be to take their outlandish, yet socially acceptable idolisation to the next level and move them that bit closer to Hinckley/Chapman territory? After all, we are being sold the image of the “celebrity” who is accessible, who is our equal and our friend, who is 'just like us'. It's not too difficult to imagine how the lines could blur for an easily influenced, Darwinian, adolescent mind who just wants to find that connection. Any adult, on the other hand, who venerates a “celebrity” (or anyone else for that matter) in the same way, really needs to take a closer look at that behaviour. As part of an intelligent species, with the potential for so much intellectual growth; you should be ashamed. What have any of these people done to deserve your profound and unadulterated respect? To use the example of poor bewildered Britney Spears once more, why do parents think that she is a suitable role model for their kids when the woman can't even handle the responsibility of raising her own children or manage her own financial affairs? Do they realise that having a legal and permanent conservatorship granted against you is normally used with elderly people so that their families can tend to their fiscal well being following the onset of dementia or similar mental deterioration? I'm not trying to attack the girl.... I'm merely pointing out that she's certainly not the kind of role model I would ever want for my son or daughter.

In the end, if fame is something you really do still seek... if you are genuinely so blinkered to truly believe that relinquishing your privacy and handing your freedom over to someone who will try to mold and form you into the next Bieber or Rihanna, then who am I to try to stop you? You are clearly missing the point. And if you think that the station of purely being famous is enough to fulfil you, then please, put your dream to the test. Use botox, sun-beds and photoshop, where possible get your physical flaws corrected (there is no room for these in the land of the “celebrity”), enlist the help of the most expensive agent, learn to court the media, research and learn your new, politically correct opinions, become wise in the ways of the auto-tuner, attend every sickeningly circus-like audition for whatever TV “talent” show is visiting a town near you, behave as bizarrely and wear as little as possible at all times..... hopefully you'll get there. But once you arrive, do me a favour and write to me to let me know just how happy and fulfilling your new life of fame really is. Assuming you have time to do so before the media or the public decide to make you their newest clay pigeon. I suppose what I'm trying to say here, and the only way I can sum up this discussion is to say that I wish people would open their eyes to the fickle and completely flawed nature of fame and “celebrity”. The positive aspects of being a well renowned, famous person are earned by having a genuine talent, while sharing and using it to enhance your own life and the lives of others, and the motivation to get there was never to simply be a “celebrity”.