Just the other day in class, we spent most of the time talking about the originations of celebrities. Also, we discussed how we use celebrities in our lives, and how celebrities are constructed. The discussion was very insightful into a topic that many people don't even stop and take a minute to think about. We are more concerned with "consuming" the celebrities and the myths they lay before us, than actually learning and understanding about them as an actual media text that affects our lives.
The reading in our class packet, that this discussion was based off of, was very informative and provided many different "facts" and examples in the area of celebrities. When examining the origination of celebrities, a road of transformation was laid out. Going back to ironically stars themselves, that is where many "heroes" or celebrities of the past originated. From Orion to the Bull to many other objects in the sky, stories and tales were created for their origination, and how they actually lived out their lives in the sky. Another form of celebs from the past were all the Greek and Roman God's and Goddesses. From there, examples of actual Kings from the bible were given. The esteem that people held kings in back in the bible, has been compared to the way that many people today hold celebrities.
Inspiration, the embodiment of our best values, scapegoats; these are just a few of the roles that celebrities play in our world today. Constructed by a personal publicist, who in turn has a team of publicists, each celebrity has an image to uphold and project to the general viewing audience. Most are very successful at this, but some start good and end up down a road that reveals celebrities are also people. As discussed in class, Celebrities, referring to their image that is constructed, are NOT real people. Beneath that superficial layer, every celebrity is a person who has a life just like anyone else. A prime example of this is the one and only Britney Spears. Nuff said...
When examining how I use celebrities, I found that I use them in very similar ways. I blame them for causing others problems, and I also fall into the trap of thinking that others are more affected by celebrities than I am. Although I don't worship celebrities, I still have my favorite movie actors, singers, and even sports icons. I have fallen into the trap more than once of thinking that the image that I see of these people on T.V. is who they actually are. After this discussion from class, I have a greater understanding of celebrities and I think I can now more effectively consume the media text of "celebrity" without having all the seemingly realistic misconceptions surround my psyche.
~DeLiRi0uS~
The reading in our class packet, that this discussion was based off of, was very informative and provided many different "facts" and examples in the area of celebrities. When examining the origination of celebrities, a road of transformation was laid out. Going back to ironically stars themselves, that is where many "heroes" or celebrities of the past originated. From Orion to the Bull to many other objects in the sky, stories and tales were created for their origination, and how they actually lived out their lives in the sky. Another form of celebs from the past were all the Greek and Roman God's and Goddesses. From there, examples of actual Kings from the bible were given. The esteem that people held kings in back in the bible, has been compared to the way that many people today hold celebrities.
Inspiration, the embodiment of our best values, scapegoats; these are just a few of the roles that celebrities play in our world today. Constructed by a personal publicist, who in turn has a team of publicists, each celebrity has an image to uphold and project to the general viewing audience. Most are very successful at this, but some start good and end up down a road that reveals celebrities are also people. As discussed in class, Celebrities, referring to their image that is constructed, are NOT real people. Beneath that superficial layer, every celebrity is a person who has a life just like anyone else. A prime example of this is the one and only Britney Spears. Nuff said...
When examining how I use celebrities, I found that I use them in very similar ways. I blame them for causing others problems, and I also fall into the trap of thinking that others are more affected by celebrities than I am. Although I don't worship celebrities, I still have my favorite movie actors, singers, and even sports icons. I have fallen into the trap more than once of thinking that the image that I see of these people on T.V. is who they actually are. After this discussion from class, I have a greater understanding of celebrities and I think I can now more effectively consume the media text of "celebrity" without having all the seemingly realistic misconceptions surround my psyche.
~DeLiRi0uS~
No comments:
Post a Comment