Celebrities Today

A celebrity or hero used to be considered a person who tried to immortalize himself through his actions and outstanding deeds. He reflected the ideals and qualities which his society valued most, and would perform acts which were beneficial to the common good. This still holds true in some cases, but the men and women whom we refer to as celebrities today have become the ones who plaster themselves on the silver screens, on our television sets, or in our headphones. They perform no life-changing act for the greater good of society, no incredible feat of strength or bravery which proves their worth. All these "celebrities" have to do is somehow get themselves onto our television screens and then wait for the screaming mobs to come, tracking and imitating their every move. The idea of a celebrity has changed radically over the past thousand years; instead of representing the positive values of our culture and carrying out memorable deeds worthy of remembrance, these celebrities now set our values for us and whine about their petty problems on national television.

Take for example, the case of Britney Spears. Everyone knows, loves, or hates this pop-singer and her radical transformations, whimsical deeds, and typical rich-white-girl personality. When first starting out in the music industry, she presented herself as an innocent, sweet school-girl, but when she didn't get enough record sales or net enough cash, she suddenly morphed into a dirty, showy, naughty girl for young girls to emulate. Is this who we want as an idol for the young in our culture? Her young, impressionable fans, who want to live their lives just like she lives hers, see her change, and decide her values must be good enough to become their values. Perhaps one of Britney's most embarrassing moments was her marriage to her childhood friend, which lasted almost a full weekend. She and her short-term husband, Jason Alexander, decided one morning to get married, and completed the ceremony later that afternoon, only to decide 52 hours later to have the, "lawyers for pop star Britney Spears [ask] a county court in Nevada to annul her Las Vegas marriage to a childhood friend over the weekend" (Britney). Her actions seem like nothing more than an attempt to keep the spot-light on herself, and apparently this is what we have lowered our standards to; celebrities who are so obsessed with keeping their fame for a few more years that they will try almost anything to turn the focus onto themselves.

The news media does not help matters at all. Since the invention of the television, news presses, and other forms of media, newscasters are always searching for more topics they can headline, and celebrities and their lives are always hot topics. Paris Hilton, the model turned actor turned singer and heiress of Hilton Hotels, is not the least of these, topics of her media coverage ranging from her missing dog to her scandalous sex tape. As if her TV series, "The Simple Life" was not enough, she is currently filming a movie and has even gone so far as to record an album to add to her already limitless career. When asked if Paris actually does anything with her life, Kuntzman quotes Richard Johnson, "Who achieves anything, really? She's rich. She's young and she's pretty. And she's much more fun than any of the other girls out there" (Kuntzman). Apparently being pretty, young and rich by inheritance is valued more than someone of good character who works overtime for his or her money, and who contributes to the overall well-being of society. What type of principles does Paris show our culture it is desirable

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