So I saw the movie Inception earlier today. It was good, but it got me thinking about movie stars. I think that television has created a whole new class of people, millionaires. But it’s not just that these actors and actresses are wealthy that makes them seem different from the average person; I mean there are plenty of wealthy people who are not in show business. I think the thing that makes these actors so different from other people of the wealthy class is that we hold them to different standards. We follow these actors throughout their lives. We see their work. We watch them at their highs and at their lows.
My question is why we follow these people. What makes them so different that we watch them with vibrant interest on the television screen, that we read about their personal lives in magazines, or that we listen to them in interviews on the radio? Is it because over the years the entertainment world has changed our point of view on what is really important?
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"Why movie stars?"
ReplyDeleteJust like you Melissa, this question often crosses my mind. I do admit that I often look in excitement for the latest buzz on celebrities. I think that we, the public, are so drawn to the lives of movie stars because we want to be like them. Come on, who hasn't dreamed about having the luxurious life of a star and possessing their fame? As for your last question, I think that the entertainment world has, over time, converted us to become gossip lovers. Just as Postman says, our society has created "the news of the day", which mostly consists of the latest gossip on celebrities. Our addiction for gossip is the reason why magazines and interviews on celebrities are so successful. This strategy that the entertainment world has thrown out at us has brought out the public's guilty pleasure of watching the every move of celebrities.
Many viewers think that celebrities are better than the average person because of their wealth and fame, but this isn't necessarily true. The way we view them on the big screen gives us a desire to find out more about them and their personal lives. With that being said many magazines will exploit the truth or bend it to cause more drama in the star's life so they could gain more money like Angel Mae stated. Reading the latest rumors satisfies our desires to learn more about them, but whether we think it is true or not is up to us. I personally think we are just interested in a celebrity's life just because we want to see them make mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from Melissa, but I don't think it is just because they are famous. Society tends to follow them because they are out there with everything and the paparazzi are with them as well to catch their every move. If you think about it, 'regular' people are just the same. They are followed on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter and the latest high school gossip is spread around the school. Gossip is in today's society, without a doubt. But it isn't mainly on celebrities, only every so often. Honestly, society gets entertainment from the latest celebrity gossip for a day or so, eventually society forgets about it and begins to live their life again. The main reason for following the lives of celebrities is entertainment. We have to have these 'celebrities' in order to make life interesting, if everyone were the same class and as famous how would the world be? The only thing that the celebrities are better than us is what they are famous for, and even then that is not true they just got lucky.
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