There's a big difference between fame and celebrity. In my opinion, fame extends to everyone in the public eye: Authors, producers, and CEO's are all famous. But they're not celebrities. The paparazzi are not stalking them every time they leave their houses. They aren't being written about (for the most part) in People or on Page Six.
I stayed with my aunt, uncle, and cousin in Providence, RI over Thanksgiving Break (I couldn't afford to travel home to my family in California over the five-day break from school), and as my aunt and I were driving home from an appointment Saturday morning, she casually mentioned that her and her husband's best friends are the Van Allsburg family, and the husband is the author of The Polar Express, Jumangi, and several other children's books. This surprised me when she first told me - I almost didn't believe her. How could her best friend have written several books that are staples in many children's bookcases and that have been turned into hit movies.
However, after I thought about it for a minute, I realized that I shouldn't be so surprised. When was the last time virtually ANY non-celebrity author appeared in the "Star Tracks" section of People magazine? When was the last time a CEO, political activist, etc. appeared in one of those magazines? That's the difference between fame and celebrity.
Of course, there are several degrees to celebrity. For example, at home in Southern California I live next door to one of the Suitcase Girls from the TV show Deal Or No Deal. But there aren't paparazzi outside of her house, waiting to watch her go to the grocery store. She's a minor, almost insignificant celebrity. Of course, if she were to be involved in some sort of a scandal, the media would likely pay attention, as people will pay attention to any sort of celebrity scandal.
And then, of course, there are the Brittney Spears, Lindsay Lohans, and Paris Hildtons of the world. Celebrities that have had the paparazzi following them for just about as long as I can remember looking at celebrity magazines. Of course, these celebrities are more infamous that famous. There are celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey, and Natalie Portman who use their fame to do a lot of good. It's interesting to note, however, that these celebrities aren't often depicted stumbling out of clubs at 3 AM, completely trashed. These celebrities aren't taken away to mental hospitals, nor do their families have to stage interventions to make them change their ways. So I think that there has to be a difference between the categories of superstars. Maybe it's age, maybe it's technology. Maybe it's education, maybe it's the type of work they've pursued throughout their careers.
Or maybe it's just inevitable that some stars will rise while others fall.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
How We Got Here, Part 2
Ok, so now I know how America became receptive to the celebrity culture. I think that now it's important to understand how studios turned their clients into the superstars that they are today.
After the communications revolution and mass urbanization, personality became the way to distinguish the self from the masses. Celebrity was a measure of success - how much attention your personality could get you was what people valued.
At this time (1900's) the entertainment became centralized in New York City. This made perfect sense - Ellis Island was the port through which nearly every immigrant came through and Broadway was the entertainment hub of the elite. Because of this, a new, almost commercial industry evolved around the stars. Agents packaged their stars to attract an audience, which fueled the distribution of images, information, and money. Celebrities were able to branch all cultural levels: between 1901 and 1914, 74% of subjects in The Saturday Evening Post and Colliers were political, business, or other professional figures. After 1922, however, over half of the subjects came from the entertainment industry (TV, movies, music, and sports).
After the film industry moved out to Hollywood, celebrity culture became a national pastime, as celebrities were able to transcend all cultural levels. Celebrity gossip magazines like today's People or US Weekly, press agencies, and agents themselves gained more power and had more influence over the public's perception of celebrities. The image of the star is what the agents and studios were selling to the public, not the actual star. Studios had portrait studios to create the perfect image of larger-than-life celebrities. While Broadway's finances dwindled in the 1930's, radio and then TV made its stars virtual family members - nearly every household in America had one, and families gathered together to listen to it nightly. Radio and TV also created virtual family members out of politicians and greatly shaped the public's perception of them - FDR's fireside chats helped garner support amongst the American people, while the television of Joseph McCarthy's hearings instilled fear in the hearts of citizens.
Celebrity then lay in the power of possessing a microphone, camera, and an audience, not in actual merit or virtue. This has created simulacra - images with no real relevance to the average citizen's world. This is still relevant today - why do people feel the need to watch Brittney Spears trying to stage her umpteenth comeback when, at the same time, the economy is falling apart and a historic presidential election is taking place?
Andy Warhol declared that one day, everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame. This prophecy may actually come true one day with Perez Hilton, TMZ, and even YouTube always on the lookout for the next wave of "celebrities."
"A common complaint of modern celebrity culture is that the public, instead of seeking virtues or talents in celebrities, seek those who are the most willing to break ethical boundaries, or those who are most aggressive in self-promotion. In other words, infamy has replaced fame. The social role of the town drunk, the court jester, or the sexually indecent are not new, but arguably, the glorification of these individuals is."
Historical information found at:
Henderson, Amy
1992 Media and the Rise of Celebrity Culture. Organization of American Historians Magazine of History 6 (4).
Quote found at:
Wikipedia.com User
2007 Celebrity Culture. Electronic Document http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_culture, accessed November 28, 2008.
After the communications revolution and mass urbanization, personality became the way to distinguish the self from the masses. Celebrity was a measure of success - how much attention your personality could get you was what people valued.
At this time (1900's) the entertainment became centralized in New York City. This made perfect sense - Ellis Island was the port through which nearly every immigrant came through and Broadway was the entertainment hub of the elite. Because of this, a new, almost commercial industry evolved around the stars. Agents packaged their stars to attract an audience, which fueled the distribution of images, information, and money. Celebrities were able to branch all cultural levels: between 1901 and 1914, 74% of subjects in The Saturday Evening Post and Colliers were political, business, or other professional figures. After 1922, however, over half of the subjects came from the entertainment industry (TV, movies, music, and sports).
After the film industry moved out to Hollywood, celebrity culture became a national pastime, as celebrities were able to transcend all cultural levels. Celebrity gossip magazines like today's People or US Weekly, press agencies, and agents themselves gained more power and had more influence over the public's perception of celebrities. The image of the star is what the agents and studios were selling to the public, not the actual star. Studios had portrait studios to create the perfect image of larger-than-life celebrities. While Broadway's finances dwindled in the 1930's, radio and then TV made its stars virtual family members - nearly every household in America had one, and families gathered together to listen to it nightly. Radio and TV also created virtual family members out of politicians and greatly shaped the public's perception of them - FDR's fireside chats helped garner support amongst the American people, while the television of Joseph McCarthy's hearings instilled fear in the hearts of citizens.
Celebrity then lay in the power of possessing a microphone, camera, and an audience, not in actual merit or virtue. This has created simulacra - images with no real relevance to the average citizen's world. This is still relevant today - why do people feel the need to watch Brittney Spears trying to stage her umpteenth comeback when, at the same time, the economy is falling apart and a historic presidential election is taking place?
Andy Warhol declared that one day, everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame. This prophecy may actually come true one day with Perez Hilton, TMZ, and even YouTube always on the lookout for the next wave of "celebrities."
"A common complaint of modern celebrity culture is that the public, instead of seeking virtues or talents in celebrities, seek those who are the most willing to break ethical boundaries, or those who are most aggressive in self-promotion. In other words, infamy has replaced fame. The social role of the town drunk, the court jester, or the sexually indecent are not new, but arguably, the glorification of these individuals is."
Historical information found at:
Henderson, Amy
1992 Media and the Rise of Celebrity Culture. Organization of American Historians Magazine of History 6 (4).
Quote found at:
Wikipedia.com User
2007 Celebrity Culture. Electronic Document http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_culture, accessed November 28, 2008.
How We Got Here, Part 1
I think that before further delving into the current culture of Young Hollywood, I should step back to take a look at the history of celebrity in America and how it has evolved over time.
From the reading I've done, I've come to the conclusion that idolization and celebrity are deeply intertwined in American culture. After the American Revolution, citizens idolized military and literary heros (George Washington), as well as statesmen (Thomas Jefferson), to give the country a sense of historical legitimacy. The traditional social institutions personified and idolized are the building blogs of a democratic nation - the nation that the Founding Fathers and colonists hoped to produce after the Revolution.
Between 1820 and 1860, Americans began to look toward a new, abstract set of ideals in a hero. Known as the "American Adam," this new idol was a figure of innocence and promise for the new nation. Americans were optimistic about the emerging culture of their new nation - the emerging novelists, essayists, poets, critics, historians, and preachers all epitomized self-reliance, virtue, and industry - values that everyday people admired. Abraham Lincoln can be seen as the figurehead of the "American Adam" hero - Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to him as "a man of the people [with a] strong sense of duty" in 1865. This was not an alien notion to the country - the Founding Fathers, as well as first presidents of America upheld similar values.
However, in the late 19th century, the communications revolution and newly-created large urban city-scapes changed the face of fame itself. The graphic revolution allowed magazines and newspapers to mass-produce and be distributed to all areas of the country. With the high speed press, linotype, and halftone photo reproduction came news organizations such as the Associated Press. Daily newspapers became the average citizen's supplier of local & world news. During this time (1867-1890), increasing literacy rates and increasing leisure time caused the circulation of the daily paper to increase by about 400%.
In addition, magazines such as McClures began publication in the 1890's. These publications engaged its readers imaginations to re-define ideas of fame, success, and national heroism. Idols became hero-inventors such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford; as well as commercial entrepreneurs such as John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan. All of these men rose to the top of their respective fields through Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest), which many citizens believed was the cause of the success of some and failure of many.
The mass migration of Eastern and Southern Europeans at the close of the 19th century created urbanized cities, middle classes, and dissolved the "genteel tradition" - the refined, almost aristocratic air - of the century past. This urbanization created a vernacular culture that became rooted in the entertainment industry. Entertainment was available for people of all social classes (from Vaudeville shows to Broadway productions), and thus all types of people demanded information on celebrities in newspapers and magazines. The rise of celebrity culture, however, is largely attributed to the switch from a production to a consumption society. Farming was no longer the family's means of survival. Instead, people commuted to the newly developed cities for work.
This caused a switch in cultural perspectives in the upper and upper middle classes - they felt threatened by the immigrants swarming into their cities and towns, taking their jobs, etc. The upper classes then began to tilt inward - away from selfless virtue and towards self-realization (away from character and towards personality). Personality consequently became a way to distinguish the self from the masses, and celebrity (how much attention your personality could get you) became the measure of success.
So, the urbanization of America and the communications revolution is what set the stage for the Hollywood culture. In my next entry, I plan to discover how the celebrities became, well, celebrities: adored by the masses, followed by photographers, written about by journalists, and never left alone.
Information found at:
Henderson, Amy
1992 Media and the Rise of Celebrity Culture. Organization of American Historians Magazine of History 6 (4).
From the reading I've done, I've come to the conclusion that idolization and celebrity are deeply intertwined in American culture. After the American Revolution, citizens idolized military and literary heros (George Washington), as well as statesmen (Thomas Jefferson), to give the country a sense of historical legitimacy. The traditional social institutions personified and idolized are the building blogs of a democratic nation - the nation that the Founding Fathers and colonists hoped to produce after the Revolution.
Between 1820 and 1860, Americans began to look toward a new, abstract set of ideals in a hero. Known as the "American Adam," this new idol was a figure of innocence and promise for the new nation. Americans were optimistic about the emerging culture of their new nation - the emerging novelists, essayists, poets, critics, historians, and preachers all epitomized self-reliance, virtue, and industry - values that everyday people admired. Abraham Lincoln can be seen as the figurehead of the "American Adam" hero - Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to him as "a man of the people [with a] strong sense of duty" in 1865. This was not an alien notion to the country - the Founding Fathers, as well as first presidents of America upheld similar values.
However, in the late 19th century, the communications revolution and newly-created large urban city-scapes changed the face of fame itself. The graphic revolution allowed magazines and newspapers to mass-produce and be distributed to all areas of the country. With the high speed press, linotype, and halftone photo reproduction came news organizations such as the Associated Press. Daily newspapers became the average citizen's supplier of local & world news. During this time (1867-1890), increasing literacy rates and increasing leisure time caused the circulation of the daily paper to increase by about 400%.
In addition, magazines such as McClures began publication in the 1890's. These publications engaged its readers imaginations to re-define ideas of fame, success, and national heroism. Idols became hero-inventors such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford; as well as commercial entrepreneurs such as John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan. All of these men rose to the top of their respective fields through Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest), which many citizens believed was the cause of the success of some and failure of many.
The mass migration of Eastern and Southern Europeans at the close of the 19th century created urbanized cities, middle classes, and dissolved the "genteel tradition" - the refined, almost aristocratic air - of the century past. This urbanization created a vernacular culture that became rooted in the entertainment industry. Entertainment was available for people of all social classes (from Vaudeville shows to Broadway productions), and thus all types of people demanded information on celebrities in newspapers and magazines. The rise of celebrity culture, however, is largely attributed to the switch from a production to a consumption society. Farming was no longer the family's means of survival. Instead, people commuted to the newly developed cities for work.
This caused a switch in cultural perspectives in the upper and upper middle classes - they felt threatened by the immigrants swarming into their cities and towns, taking their jobs, etc. The upper classes then began to tilt inward - away from selfless virtue and towards self-realization (away from character and towards personality). Personality consequently became a way to distinguish the self from the masses, and celebrity (how much attention your personality could get you) became the measure of success.
So, the urbanization of America and the communications revolution is what set the stage for the Hollywood culture. In my next entry, I plan to discover how the celebrities became, well, celebrities: adored by the masses, followed by photographers, written about by journalists, and never left alone.
Information found at:
Henderson, Amy
1992 Media and the Rise of Celebrity Culture. Organization of American Historians Magazine of History 6 (4).
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