Love this! Delicious, especially because I have no idea who Cardi B., Jenny McCarthy and Peter Davidson are. I'm not even going to look them up, because I'm just the old lady down the street. Celebrity has probably been A Thing since humankind began. I hear your question as, has it always been (as) Toxic, or (as) devoid of Meaning? We've all heard of Christ, Plato and Dickens. Even so, our best question now for all their fans might be, "Really?"
Love this! Delicious, especially because I have no idea who Cardi B., Jenny McCarthy and Peter Davidson are. I'm not even going to look them up, because I'm just the old lady down the street. Celebrity has probably been A Thing since humankind began. I hear your question as, has it always been (as) Toxic, or (as) devoid of Meaning? We've all heard of Christ, Plato and Dickens. Even so, our best question now for all their fans might be, "Really?"
The intensity of passion for celebrities was a LOT higher in bygone eras: Beatlemania, Elvis, marquee leading men (and women). That Farrah Fawcett poster. There was drool and fainting. Taylor Swift is a throwback to the days when studio publicists drummed up interest around celebrities' love lives. If anything, celebrities have become more banal - although people spend more time watching them because of social media. A worse problem is the "celebretizing" of policy agitators and politicians. Greta Thumberg (who deserves no-one's attention, much less magazine covers). AOC's dress-up day at the Met Gala (which technically violates campaign finance rules, but wow, that shade of lipstick), or Fauci, the self-proclaimed avatar for science. Elon Musk. And the nth degree, Trump. The expression in DC is that politics is Hollywood for ugly people. But those ugly people, because they do actually hold the levers of power, can be a lot more destructive than cheekbones in a Brioni suit.
JC, I think there are many more celebrities. Add in the latest generation of influencers, and the number is huge. This means that it is more rare to have a celeb who is the sun in everyone's heavens. But I think most people have some celebs they continue really, really, really to care about. So fewer really big stars, but lots of more minor ones, who still I think manage to matter a lot to a smaller group. Extensive celebrity is waning but intensive celebrity is not. So to speak. And yes, I think the celebrity bargain has changed so that the way to you get to celebrity requires self revelation that the old model did not. The agitators might be seen to earn their celebrity. They stand for an idea (even if it's a dumb idea.) This is probably a more fairly earned celebrity than just being radiant on film. And then it's a voting system. Agitators take a position and we can use their celebrity as a measure of how much political support their idea has. I think we will might have to refuse the "politics is Hollywood for ugly people." My guess is that no party will continue recruiting and promotion you as a candidate unless you come with cheekbones and charisma in place. Thanks!
Was it Andy Warhol who predicted we would all have our 15 minutes of fame? And Tik Tok is the accelerant for so many more of us getting at least 2 minutes of fame? How many fam-ous things can we take in?
Thank you Grant for getting us to think about culture in the context of celebrity (celebritIES)! In Dickens' day who were the celebrities? And were they global (she asks rhetorically because how could they have been?) It is a tangent for sure. But you made me want to find out.
Susan! thanks for reading! Yes, we have a supply problem. But then we are fragmenting and diversifying as a culture, so maybe more celebrities the celebrity system is becoming niche to speak to a culture that's doing the same. And yes, the Victorian comparison for me is the instructive one. It's impossible imagine that Peter Davidson could have been a Victorian celebrity. His funny is deeply, profoundly anti-Victorian. I think. Thanks!
Grant, I`ve been enjoying the articles. Thank you.
Regarding the influence of celebrities, you use several examples to illustrate how celebrities have been shaping culture. Books, perfume, politics. I can`t help but think of innumerous similar examples from the pre-digital era. It seems to me that digital media is the main culprit for what you`re getting to. Or, maybe the differences aren't so great, and depending on how you consider demographics, there`s some cultural proportionality between new celebrities and old celebrities. Perhaps how we define celebrities is also something worth considering when comparing ancient (or ancient-minded) intellectuals with Tiktokers.
I understand the approach here is meant to be broad, and do appreciate the insights.
Charles! so great to hear from you. I think I sort of buried the lede here. I presumed that most celebrity was created on the big screen or the small one, with careers in movies, music, and social media. And only then did celebs take this celebrity and seek to use and augment it by "eating up the world." Thanks again!
Love this! Delicious, especially because I have no idea who Cardi B., Jenny McCarthy and Peter Davidson are. I'm not even going to look them up, because I'm just the old lady down the street. Celebrity has probably been A Thing since humankind began. I hear your question as, has it always been (as) Toxic, or (as) devoid of Meaning? We've all heard of Christ, Plato and Dickens. Even so, our best question now for all their fans might be, "Really?"
Joan, thanks for reading and writing in, looking forward to discussing! Best, Grant
Love this! Delicious, especially because I have no idea who Cardi B., Jenny McCarthy and Peter Davidson are. I'm not even going to look them up, because I'm just the old lady down the street. Celebrity has probably been A Thing since humankind began. I hear your question as, has it always been (as) Toxic, or (as) devoid of Meaning? We've all heard of Christ, Plato and Dickens. Even so, our best question now for all their fans might be, "Really?"
The intensity of passion for celebrities was a LOT higher in bygone eras: Beatlemania, Elvis, marquee leading men (and women). That Farrah Fawcett poster. There was drool and fainting. Taylor Swift is a throwback to the days when studio publicists drummed up interest around celebrities' love lives. If anything, celebrities have become more banal - although people spend more time watching them because of social media. A worse problem is the "celebretizing" of policy agitators and politicians. Greta Thumberg (who deserves no-one's attention, much less magazine covers). AOC's dress-up day at the Met Gala (which technically violates campaign finance rules, but wow, that shade of lipstick), or Fauci, the self-proclaimed avatar for science. Elon Musk. And the nth degree, Trump. The expression in DC is that politics is Hollywood for ugly people. But those ugly people, because they do actually hold the levers of power, can be a lot more destructive than cheekbones in a Brioni suit.
JC, I think there are many more celebrities. Add in the latest generation of influencers, and the number is huge. This means that it is more rare to have a celeb who is the sun in everyone's heavens. But I think most people have some celebs they continue really, really, really to care about. So fewer really big stars, but lots of more minor ones, who still I think manage to matter a lot to a smaller group. Extensive celebrity is waning but intensive celebrity is not. So to speak. And yes, I think the celebrity bargain has changed so that the way to you get to celebrity requires self revelation that the old model did not. The agitators might be seen to earn their celebrity. They stand for an idea (even if it's a dumb idea.) This is probably a more fairly earned celebrity than just being radiant on film. And then it's a voting system. Agitators take a position and we can use their celebrity as a measure of how much political support their idea has. I think we will might have to refuse the "politics is Hollywood for ugly people." My guess is that no party will continue recruiting and promotion you as a candidate unless you come with cheekbones and charisma in place. Thanks!
Was it Andy Warhol who predicted we would all have our 15 minutes of fame? And Tik Tok is the accelerant for so many more of us getting at least 2 minutes of fame? How many fam-ous things can we take in?
Thank you Grant for getting us to think about culture in the context of celebrity (celebritIES)! In Dickens' day who were the celebrities? And were they global (she asks rhetorically because how could they have been?) It is a tangent for sure. But you made me want to find out.
Susan! thanks for reading! Yes, we have a supply problem. But then we are fragmenting and diversifying as a culture, so maybe more celebrities the celebrity system is becoming niche to speak to a culture that's doing the same. And yes, the Victorian comparison for me is the instructive one. It's impossible imagine that Peter Davidson could have been a Victorian celebrity. His funny is deeply, profoundly anti-Victorian. I think. Thanks!
Grant, I`ve been enjoying the articles. Thank you.
Regarding the influence of celebrities, you use several examples to illustrate how celebrities have been shaping culture. Books, perfume, politics. I can`t help but think of innumerous similar examples from the pre-digital era. It seems to me that digital media is the main culprit for what you`re getting to. Or, maybe the differences aren't so great, and depending on how you consider demographics, there`s some cultural proportionality between new celebrities and old celebrities. Perhaps how we define celebrities is also something worth considering when comparing ancient (or ancient-minded) intellectuals with Tiktokers.
I understand the approach here is meant to be broad, and do appreciate the insights.
Charles! so great to hear from you. I think I sort of buried the lede here. I presumed that most celebrity was created on the big screen or the small one, with careers in movies, music, and social media. And only then did celebs take this celebrity and seek to use and augment it by "eating up the world." Thanks again!