Celebrity Status

[klunderbunker]

So I was flipping through the channels and saw a hot woman. Being the person I tend to be, I stopped. It turns out that this woman is the new girlfriend of Jon from Jon and Kate Plus 8. Apparently, she has given a tell all interview and is considered to be a small scale celebrity. This got me thinking: what does it mean to be a celebrity now?

The best example I can give for this would of course be Paris Hilton. She's famous. What is she famous for? Um...she's famous. No one can really give a reason as for why she's famous, yet everyone knows who she is and she is indeed famous. Look at TNA with all of their people from Survivor. A good amount of people from that show have been in TNA, yet I believe only one actually won the show. The rest won nothing, yet are celebrities nonetheless. The same can be said for all kinds of reality shows etc., which means they need no real acting talent or anything else, yet they're famous anyway. People like Perez Hilton as well, who is just a blogger, yet is famous as well, and even rich because of it, yet he does nothing but report gossip. Why are these people famous?

At this point, how can you classify the difference between someone like Tom Hanks and someone from some random reality show as far as being famous? is there some kind of scale for it? Do you consider these "celebrities" to be actual famous people, or are they just people that are on TV?

 

[FromTheSouth]

We are victims of the 24 hour news cycle. In much the same way that the common American knows every detail of Congressional legislation, we also know intimate details of people's personal lives, and we get over exposed to everything.

Information is very highly valued in today's society, and any source that can provide news to the masses will. These sources get paid for this news. So, if people are giving you money, for something that costs you nothing, what do you do? You give them the information. The problem is that media outlets are buying every piece of information they can get. Jon and Kate got more time on television news than they did on their television show during their divorce. The news used to be on one hour a day, five days a week, and then 60 Minutes was on Sunday. Now the news is on 168 hours a week, on ten channels, plus ten thousand blogs.

So, what does this have to do with celebrities? Simply put, politicians days go from 6 am to 6pm, whereas celebrities days fill up the other twelve hours. It works so well for TV. In the evening they discuss politics, and morning news shows pull highlights from the political day and fill the time with celebrity news. Real celebrities are smart enough to hide from the cameras, however, B-Listers and reality stars have no idea. All they know is that if they keep their name on TV they never have to work.

It's a shame that real news outlets oblige these idiots. I cringe every time Fox News cites TMZ as a source. I hate that I know who Perez Hilton is. Shit, I hate that I know who PARIS Hilton is.

It seems that very few reality "stars" have parlayed their semi-stardom into anything useful. One, obviously, is Mike Mizanin. He was a wrestling fan, and won enough money having sex with tramps on those challenge shows, that he didn't have to work. He went to wrestling school instead, and through his steady improvement, is actually a decent guy in the ring, and is amazing on the stick. Beyond him, I just know that Omarosa is famous for being a bitch on Trump's show. I see reality shows that feature "stars" from other reality shows. I hate it.

 

[HBK-aholic]

People on TV FTW. That's really the only definition of a celebrity. Well, that, and you have to have mindless fans who will pay money to read about what dress you wore one week. I mean, come on, what does Paris Hilton do, really? Her dad's rich and that's honestly it. She's tried singing (Okay so I quite liked that song, but shush) it didn't work out. She just stands there, getting thinner by the week while people take pictures. And she has millions. Life's a bitch.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

Working as an actor I always come across someone who says " I did big brother so i gonna try and get myself some acting roles" can you see whats wrong with this statement?

Nothing is sacred anymore, the more open you are about yourself the more cross appeal you have the more doors open, its sad but its true, Actors are losing work to reality tv stars who really didn't do anything, they just want money and recognition and will do whatever they can to get it.

Careers are suppose to mean something but these days as long as you have a fanbase somewhere from something no matter what it is you can get yourself more and more money, just look at Jade goody, she made a financial empire out of talking to magazines and the papers, when she died people treated her like she was the nicest person in the world but the sad truth is she was a media hore who just wanted the attention to get more and more money and do more and more reality tv shows, its sad but thats life until people start waking up and understanding the difference between real actors and musicians and lazy reality tv people we will always have the definition celebrity put with people who have no right to be there IMO.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

If we want to work on a scale as you are saying Klunder, maybe we should start with a base. I mean if you want to make the top of the heap A list actors and musicians that are intelligent and tolerable, then we also need some scum feeding, money grabbing trashbag idiots at the bottom of the barrel.

While you beaver away at a simple graph depicting this, I'm also wondering where wrestlers fit on this scale. Whether people like to admit it or not, even if it's not cool, I'm sure a majority of the public would know at least ONE wrestler. Hulk Hogan. The Rock. John Cena?

Are wrestlers toward the bottom of our hypothetical scale? Are wrestlers like The Miz higher than Edge because he has had far more exposure outside the wrestling world?

 

[ztwhite]

Not that it makes any difference in the world, but Paris Hilton is considered famous because of her father. He's the guy who created and owns the Hilton hotel chain, hence why Paris, her sister and her entire family are set for this life and the next three.

As for the celebrity status you question, there is a show on tv that makes me ask this question all the time - Dancing With The Stars. When was the last time there was an actual star on this show ?? It should be called Dancing With The Kind Of Famous C List People. Aside from the athletes, none of those people are considered celebrities IMO. Yet it's one of the highest rated programs on US television each season.

America and the world is obsessed with famous, or in this case, pseudo famous people. Everyone wants a life that's better than the one they have and it's assumed that the best way to get that better life is through money, hence everyone is obsessed with celebrities because they have money. It's a sad state of affairs really.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

First and foremost, Klunder, Paris Hilton is famous for two reasons. First, because she is one of the Daughters of the Hilton Hotel's creator. Second, and the bigger reason why people flock to her, is because she made a sex tape - and she's the relation of someone famous, er-go, this makes her what I like to call "disease famous".

Disease-Famous is something a person gets for being around someone who really is famous, yet doesn't truly do a damn thing to earn their own fame. (ie. like a common cold. You can catch it, merely by being coughed on)

As for all the reality show disease famous individuals, this is each and every person out there's fault, who happens to watch and love these shows. You created this monster known as "reality television" and I blame each and every one of you stupid-minded bastards for thinking its something worth watching.

Family Feud was as far reality as I went. Fuck Survivor, screw American Idols, and anal rape to death anyone who thinks they can fucking do a verb. (dance, sing, joke, talk, etc.)

Actors and Actresses like; Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, and Natalie Portman (to randomly name a few) are viewed as celebs because they've made memorable movies and done amazing things on, and off, the "big screen".

Reality Television "stars" like; Simon Cowell, and the new prick who judges restaurants are borderline celebs in my view. They aren't diseased famous, per-say, but they're sick enough to be - just because they got famous, off of being the individuals who bad-mouth the disease famous celebs in the first place.

I blame this all on whoever thought America's Funniest Home Videos was Oscar worthy, and went out to make the first true "Reality" themed show.

Times change, as such so does what we as a Nation, or better yet, we as everyday Human beings find to be entertaining. The sad thing is, well over half of these newly crowned "famous" people - got that way, off of doing something most of all of us could do, just the same, if not better than.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

But even celebrities that "earn" their fame or distinction are grossly overrated by the public. Theyre treated as gods and it's ridiculous. All you have to do is look at TIME magazines list of 100 most influential people in the world. Barack Obama, yes, he has some actual sway in the world and can influence people to make decisions.

Why the hell is Brad Pitt in that list? It's just because the readers WANT a celebrity in that list. To see someone they know and pretend like this celebrity makes a difference in the world. So what? He did some charity work. What sway does Brad Pitt have over anything? He has money, great, but he isnt an influential person, he doesn't own an oil company, he isnt a political activist. Why is he on that list?

But I'll tell you whats worse. Stella McCartney. Why is she on the list, besides having that last name? I'll tell you why, so it the list can be a great big celebrity ass kissing contest. Gwyneth Platrow (A celebrity wouldnt you know it) writes a tribute to Stella McCartney. "She's unique, shes's a vegetarian". Oh great, so that's a reason to be one of the world's most influential people? Out of nearly 7 billion others, thats the best reason you can have for putting her on you list?

That's what the worlds become in terms of pop culture, a celebrity ******io party. So it doesnt matter if you're some reality show scumbag or an actual A lister, you don't deserve to be treated like a god if you havent done anything but make movies and date other beautiful people.

 

[JenovasWitness]

I personally don't care for the way the media treats "celebrities" and by proxy, the way people in general treat them. There really is a great deal of information being reported, laughed at and ridiculed that really should be no one's business but the people involved. "Celebrities" are people as well.

I get why people do it. They find their lives to be too mundane so they want a freak show. They want to revel in the misery of Britney Spears who melted down before our eyes, shaved her head and went to every "celebrity" drunk fest sans underwear. All the while that the audiences at talk shows around the world were laughing at the host's monologues in reference to her, Britney was more then likely in serious need of support and help. It was like she was standing in the middle of the Roman Colosseum with everyone in attendance giving her a thumbs down.

What sickens me the most is that people make a living off of this. Magazines report the private lives of people with celebrity status, photographers hide in the woods outside their homes and take pictures of them, websites devote all of their reporting power to providing people with the latest juicy gossip...

It should not be our business. I would hate to be in a situation where if I was having personal problems to have them splashed on the front page of some trash mag. How does that make dealing with personal hell easier? There are some very gifted people in this world who should be appreciated for those gifts and should be given a modicum of respect for their personal lives.

As for people like Paris Hilton who seem to be famous for no reason...she has money. Lots of it. She can buy her fame just as easily as she can buy a plane to fly her to the hotel that she is going to buy which is situated on the island that she is going to buy to stay for the next 5 years sipping mai tais on the white sand beach naked.

 

[Nitafrong]

I think the more accurate question at the start should have been- what is a celebrity? As far as I would consider it (feel free to correct me on my definitions as I am sure you all will ) to be a celebrity is to be celebrated by society, ie to be well known and made a fuss of. I don't think there is anything in the definition which requires a skill set- it just so happened that in the past that it was certain skills that transported people into the public eye. Generally its the public (via news sources- the argument on who feeds who, is best left elsewhere), who choose who they wish to celebrate, to honour or to deride, and presently they are interested in ordinary people transplanted into the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

So to answer the point of Klunderbunker, what does it mean to be a celebrity now? It means as it always does, a person or group of people who the public have a key interest in. In reality celebrity status of people rarely correlated with the levels of their talent anyway- who are more famous- the worlds most technically skilled musicians, or those who can produce popular music? The people with the most acting talent or the people who combine some acting talent with good looks and a propensity to act in blockbusters (though the people who get these jobs tend to get it based on their popularity. A bit of a chicken and the egg scenario )