What is a celebrity?

We live in an age where an accurate definition of “celebrity” does not exist anymore. In times past, perhaps the possession of an outstanding talent or number of talents which clearly set one apart from others would qualify an individual to be called a “star”. Now, things are somewhat different.

On the topic of what attributes exactly constitute a celebrity nowadays, it is now obvious, the title is no longer restricted to the phenomenally talented, beautiful, or wealthy, now, it appears that as long as more than a certain number of people know who you are, where you have been “spotted” in recent times, who your friends and family are and what you like to do/wear, you can be called a celebrity by modern standards.

Come to think about it, if all this information about the lives of celebs was not put out there for us to hungrily gobble up, we would not know it. Our lives would not be spent following theirs. So I ask, who is behind it? Someone must pay for this large-scale exposure, and it surely can’t be them (celebs) as they are just people like us at the end of the day and are not very likely to be able to pay for it. Rather, it is the other way round, they are paid both in cash and in kind to be famous. Celebrities are paid millions as magazines jostle to have the rights to pictures of their weddings, their new-born babies, their homes and their parties. So who sponsors the publishing and broadcast corporations?

We all know that adverts are what support the running of most television channels, so in the case of celebrities, it’s the same. Those who need to advertise their commodities use the celebrities as platforms for advertisement, of which the most obvious benefactors are the fashion industry, the beauty and cosmetics industry, electronics industry and the motor industry among others. News of designers sending celebrities thousands-worth of free merchandise is commonplace, jewellers lend their most expensive pieces to celebs for well-covered events such as awards, celebs are given “goodie bags” overflowing with free products (and not cheap ones), electronics, beauty products, jewellery amongst others.

The red-carpet is no longer a place where stars are asked questions which the public want to know about their work and their lives, where journalists ask the questions their fans want to know the answers to. Instead, a celebrity is expected to answer questions centred on how they look that night, what designers are their favourites, who their stylists are and so on. Celebrities who do not know much about designers are impatiently moved along or ignored, if they give unsatisfactory answers, are mocked in the numerous post-awards “who wore what” articles.

These industries push the stars into our attention and keep them there, glamorizing their lives and creating a beautiful, carefree, youthful, affluent, interesting, sexually liberated (or quite the opposite in recent times e.g. the Jonas brothers), uninhibited image. In my opinion, it is human nature to envy anyone who seems more attractive, affluent and who has or seems to be achieving more than you. This could easily be a healthy ambition if all of these attributes where factors we could control. Or if fame were given on a basis of meritocracy, but as we all know, such is not always the case.

So how healthy is it for us to obsess over individuals who live lives they are lucky to have been given. Is it healthy to want what you have not necessarily ‘worked’ for? That is ‘work’ in the true sense of the word, not ‘work’ being to host a party and dance on a table all night in drug and alcohol-fuelled debauchery or to go shopping clutching a smoking cessation product for example, in full view of the press who are sure to be there.

Apart from showing us this seemingly perfect and fun image which we naturally want, another way we are drawn into the thick web of celebrity obsession is to create a blur between real-life and the fantasy world celebrities live in. The internet is the major agent of this rapidly blurring line as we easily spend hours on end following the lastest activities of our favourite celebs (whether we like to admit they are our favourites or not). There are pictures of them out and about, and my favourites-‘candids’ of them sometimes, without make-up! With the current popularity of blogs, celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon and offer us an insight into their lives and their opinions, always sure to drop a subtle hint here and there at what their favourite products at the moment are of course.