Celebrity culture
Celebrity culture is a high-volume exposure to celebrities' personal lives on a global scale. It is inherently tied to consumer interests where celebrities transform their fame to become product brands.
Whereas a culture can usually be physically identified, and its group characteristics easily observed, celebrity culture exists solely as a collection of individuals' desires for increased celebrity viewing. Celebrities themselves do not form a cohesive and identifiable group with which they identify themselves, but are rather found across a spectrum of activities and communities including acting, politics, fashion, sports and music. This "culture" is created when there is common knowledge within a society that people are interested in celebrities and are willing to alter their own lives to take part in celebrities' lives. The "culture" is first defined by factors outside of celebrities themselves and then augmented by celebrities' involvement within that publicly constructed culture. Celebrity culture has become a part of everyday society and functions as a form of entertainment. Today, everyday citizens play an important role in the perpetuation of celebrity culture by constantly checking the whereabouts of celebrities, their friends, the trends within celebrity culture, and the general lives of celebrity via media. Celebrity culture is now reflected in social norms and values because of the extreme citizen involvement. Today, as it is now used as entertainment, celebrity culture is viewed as a form of "escapism" from reality and a means of preoccupation for everyday people.
History
Celebrity culture in the United States began in the late nineteenth century as the nouveaux riches sought personal publicity in the society columns and magazines of the day. While philanthropists, politicians, and other public figures were the best-known New Yorkers in the 1870s, by the 1890s, the new elite were people celebrated for their gossip value. Film historian Richard Schickel cites the beginning of the modern celebrity system to the period between 1895 and 1920. In the 1930s and '40s, the modern culture of celebrity was fashioned through the columns of Walter Winchell, America's "most celebrated gossip writer".Promotion from celebrities
There have been multiple phases in the popularity of celebrity culture. Some examples include the broadcasting of television programs where human beings could reach wider audiences and individuals could be given rise to fame. As different technologies were released, the manipulation of audiences changed, and the reaches of celebrity culture has greatly expanded. Entrepreneurial individuals began to recognize the financial value in purposefully promoting certain individuals, and thus a consumer approach to celebrities as brands emerged. A culture began to take shape as consumers accepted celebrities as a part of society. This acceptance along with shrewd marketing perpetuates celebrity culture with its constantly shifting customs and beliefs.Celebrity culture can be viewed as synonymous with celebrity industry, where celebrities are treated as products to be sold. Celebrity culture differs from consumer culture in that celebrity culture is a single aspect of consumer culture. Celebrity culture could not exist without consumer culture, as people are consistently buying magazines, apps for celebrities, and other celebrity-related merchandise. Consumers' choices are thus influenced by celebrities' choices. By following celebrities, consumers are invited to take part in the collective society created by the existence of celebrity culture, unknowingly perpetuated by the consumers themselves. Participants of the celebrity culture phenomenon also include the celebrities themselves, being aware they can brand themselves and achieve financial gains through their own fame and status, apart from the foundation of their celebrity pre-branding.
"To people who have grown tired of self-government, the belief in kings and queens and fairy tales seems easier and more comfortable than the practice of politics," wrote Lewis Lapham in his book, The Wish For Kings. This notion is the basis for the naturally occurring relationship between "regular" men and women, and those on a pedestal.
The famous religious books of the world's faiths are replete with examples of individuals who are well known by the general public. Some of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt set in motion devices to ensure their own fame for centuries to come.
Celebrity culture, once restricted to royalty and biblical/mythical figures, has pervaded many sectors of society including business, publishing, and even academia. With every scientific advance names have become attached to discoveries. Especially for large contributions to humanity, the contributor is usually regarded honourably. Mass media has increased the exposure and power of celebrity. A trend has developed that celebrity carries with it increasingly more social capital than in earlier times. Each nation or cultural community has its own independent celebrity system, but this is becoming less the case due to globalization.
Perpetuation of celebrity culture
According to Oliver Dreissens, celebrity's social and cultural prominence can be traced back to the success of the mass media. The various forms of mass media allowed for the spread of new images and branding of celebrities. Especially with the inclusion of televisions in the average home, there became more of a familiarity with the people or celebrities now "in our homes". Media surrounding celebrities has heavily influenced not only celebrity culture but the general social environment in our lives. Celebrities are known to not only influence what we buy but many other things such as body image, career aspirations and politics. Richard Dyer has stated that celebrity culture is bound up with the condition of global capitalism in which "individuals are seen to determine society". Newer technologies, such as cable television and 24/7 coverage, have made today's celebrities manufactured for mass consumption, as opposed to the celebrities of the thirties and the fifties who were more self-made. 24/7 coverage pushed for more programming and people to fill the extra time. With this evolved more shows and celebrities who partook in the additional screen time. Reality television has been a large part of fostering a new celebrity culture that is more interchangeable and recognizable.Cable television and social media sites such as YouTube, have made "overnight" sensations which have perpetuated today's perception of celebrity culture. Celebrities such as Justin Bieber, who rose to immense fame after being discovered on YouTube, are argued to elicit emotional ties and self-reflexiveness that invoke a seemingly personal connection. This can be seen with some fans, especially female fans, feeling like they have a certain ownership or connection over a celebrity. At the same time, the love-hate relationship that many popular media foster between the public and celebrities, whom they admire, envy and also despise, helps to generate continuing interest in celebrity news, and ironically, to promote the cult of celebrity.
Celebrity and political culture
Celebrities and politics have interacted in mainly one of two ways. The first way is celebrity politicians, which crosses an elected office of government with celebritization. The second way is with political activism, a newly popular method which avoids directly participating in government itself.Celebrity politicians
Celebrity politicians can be divided into two categories: celebrities that go to the government and hold an elected office and politicians that become celebrities.Celebrities that have held a government office are not uncommon. Donald Trump is an example of one. A businessman and real estate dealer who has licensed his name to properties and other brands, Trump gained national fame when he starred in the television show The Apprentice in 2004 and again during the 2012 presidential election by implying that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama was not a natural-born United States citizen. He then successfully ran for the United States presidency in 2016. Ronald Reagan is another example. He was a career actor that appeared in 53 films over two decades. He first became governor of California in 1966 and then became president of the United States in 1980.
Politicians have also become celebrities naturally or by copying celebrity traits. The Democratic group "The Squad" is an example. Consisting of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Talib are four Democrat representatives that formed after the 2018 midterm elections, when Ocasio-Cortez posted a picture of the four seated together on Instagram, playing off of the colloquial term 'squad goals.' They have become well known for their outspoken nature in social media and their clashes against other politicians, such as Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi.
There has recently been an intersection of celebrity and political culture. This is a result of the large platform given to celebrities; as Jane Johnson, a reporter for the popular British celebrity publication Closer observed, the gossip surrounding celebrities is a nationally unifying factor among all social groups. This unification and large platform provided by celebrities has been a point of interest for political leaders and groups to gain further reach within various campaigns. Young adults have had historically lower voter turnout than any other voting age group. Knowing this, politicians and public figures draw from the cultural resources curated by celebrities by mimicking the popular, accessible public persona given off by today's celebrities. As noted by the author Frank Furedi, "Politicians self consciously attempt to either acquire a celebrity image or to associate themselves with individuals who possess this status." This can be seen with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who has become somewhat of a celebrity because of the perception of being personable and supporting progressive, liberal policies. Another example of this was Katy Perry campaigning and performing for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.