The Culture of Celebrity | The Weekly Standard - October 17, 2005

The Culture of Celebrity - Joseph Epstein

Nothing like an old curmudgeon to take down the notion of celebrity in a famous, nay iconic, neocon rag.  The readers of the Weekly Standard just eat Mr. Epstein up; plenty of red meat here.

He's entertaining, no doubt.  Mr. Epstein breaks it all down for us from examining the terms culture and celebrity, to the difference between celebrity and fame, all the while setting us straight on some synonyms that really aren't so synonymous.  He covers our fascination with celebrity bad news and he puts the terms star, superstar, and icon in perspective.

But when he gets to the red meat of his essay, things get good.  He dismantles the tabloids and the subcultures of celebrity, including academia and writers.  His take on Susan Sontag, in my opinion, is spot on.

I'm not sure the culture of celebrity is such a big deal.  I can't tell what is wrong with in general terms.  Personally, I find the celebrities easy to ignore.  When politicians, such as President Obama, take on celebrity status, I feel a little uneasy.

In general, celebrity doesn't mean too much.  Celebrities are a victim of the popularity of the culture of celebrity.  Everyone is a celebrity and therefore, no one is really a celebrity.  Fame no longer carries the power it once had.  We can follow people on Twitter and Facebook and their blogs and see videos and really the amount of exposure celebrities have and the lack of control they seem to have over it makes their humanity a bit too obvious.  The mystique is gone.

Celebrities should be distant and mysterious, right?  I can't worship anyone that I can meet at a book signing or backstage after a show.

I've emailed authors and artists to tell thank them for their work and let them know I enjoyed it.  In every case, they have written back, to say "you're welcome" and to thank me in turn.  Those are the types of celebrities I prefer.