Of Celebrities

 Greetings,

The subject of celebrities is one which comes up on a regular occasion because the paparazzi and the mass media has their cameras pointed at them all of the time. We hear reports of what this celebrity did and what that celebrity did. We hear often hear about this celebrity's problems with the law, and that celebrity's issues with drugs and alcohol, most recently we have seen one celebrity assaulting another, named as the "slap that was heard around the world" and other such trope. I refuse to name either celebrity that was involved because I do not believe that either should get recognition for being involved in such an incident. We have lost our way, we have lost the reason for celebrities.

Definition

So we may understand what is being spoken about we shall examine some definitions of "celebrity" as they have been presented in various sources. First from the Cambridge Dictionary, it defines celebrity as, "the state of being famous" (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/celebrity). A very simple definition, no explanation. There was more to this definition, but this was the essence. A celebrity is a person who is famous, so the definition certainly is not wrong, however there has to be more to this subject. 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives a two-part answer, "1. the state of being celebrated" and "2. a famous or celebrated person"(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/celebrity). The first describes what celebrity means as a word, the second describes what a celebrity is as a person. Here we begin to come to the core of the idea of the celebrity, they are a person who is celebrated for some reason, or they are just famous. The former part of the definition is important the idea that celebrity is "the state of being celebrated". This is a point worth noting and considering.

The last definition that will be examined, and there are quite a few more out there is one from the Wikipedia, this gives the definition of a celebrity, but also examines the grades of celebrity and also the negative sides of celebrity. The Wikipedia articles are always useful as they do give some more in-depth discussion and further places for investigation, its one of the reasons that I always have liked them, more so as their references have improved. Back to the discussion at hand the Wikipedia defines celebrity as follows,

"Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. ... 'Celebrity' usually implies a favorable public image, as opposed to the neutrals 'famous' or 'notable', or the negatives 'infamous' and 'notorious'." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity)

Here the public recognition is a result of the attention given to them by mass media. The individual does not have to have done anything really, they just have to have grabbed the attention of mass media to gain fame and public recognition, a favourable act which was performed in front of the mass media which stands them out helps a lot. It then indicates the grades of celebrity, through the notable to the notorious, who should not garner our attention at all.

Notorious

No sooner than we hear this word these days than it sparks our attention. The individual who is notorious must be a "bad boy or girl" they attract as much attention as those with the positive image in our topsy-turvy twisted turned upside-down world. In a previous age, in at least "polite" society a person who gained a "notorious" reputation would be ostracised from polite society, rejected from their company. In this society, where reputation counted, this was a kind of death, which any person would try and stay away from.

These days "any publicity is good publicity" and this is very sad, because what sort of message is it sending to our younger generation? Think about it. If those people who we are holding up as people who are celebrities, those people who we are supposed to be looking up to, are performing negative activities and getting attention for it, what does it tell children? Especially if the next day the same individual doesn't pay any consequences for their actions.

Public Reactions

In some cases there are some knee-jerk reactions to celebrities doing bad things, a celebrity gets caught being involved in homophobia, or sexual abuse, or some other social crime. There is a call by some people to burn their books or their music, to boycott them, never to buy their stuff, or listen to them again; even the suggestion of a public burning in protest. The same reaction is picked up in the media and is beamed around the world.

The result: more publicity for the individual. What would really hurt a celebrity in these situations? The exact opposite. Don't mention their name. Don't mention them on social media. Refuse to give them any sort of "grass-roots" publicity. Anytime something about them comes on the television or radio, turn it off. Don't watch things about them on the internet. Drown them in silence. Deny them the publicity.

Real Celebrities

People who should be celebrities are people who should be celebrated. Think about members of our emergency services who risk their lives day in and day out, they should be celebrated. The teams of doctors who invented the various COVID vaccines, they should be celebrated. People who keep us safe should be celebrated. The Romans celebrated their returning heroes from campaigns, they celebrated their gladiators, but the celebrations only lasted until they did not deserve them anymore.

The title of celebrity, should be reserved for those who should be celebrated. Why should a person be celebrated just because they have insanely large amounts of money? Why should a person be celebrated because they happened to be born to the right family? What are these people being celebrated for? Our politicians should only be celebrated when they actually do something to be celebrated, and no other time, other than that they are doing a job, just the same as a cleaner, or a person who repairs the roads.

Let's start celebrating the right people for the right reasons.

Cheers,

Henry.

P.S. You will notice a lot of Wikipedia links in my posts. This is a great resource of free information which is now reliably researched, as you will note by the references which appear at the bottom of each page. I donate to the Wikimedia Foundation every year to keep this non-profit group operational, and I recommend that everyone do the same, you can do this HERE. Please give, and keep this free source of information alive, there are few of them these days.