Please feel free to share your opinions on this topic!
The opinions in this discussion aren't necessarily my own, but I do share many of them.
To be a celebrity many years ago, you were often required to accomplish something really great! Maybe a scientist like Einstein, or a great thinker like one of the great, Greek philosophers. I assume the word "Celebrity" is related to "celebrate" whereby we admire and praise these people for their achievements!
Today, however, we are "celebrating" people who really do not deserve to live such a wealthy and privileged life. More dangerous is the fact that these new celebrities (who are often very far from being good role models for younger generations) are looked up to by, and are able to influence the behaviour of, millions of people globally. This is often taken advantage of by corporations who use celebrities to endorse their products which they then sell to people for extortionate prices. The dangers and drawbacks of "Capitalism" I will leave for another debate topic though!
To summarise, I think we are in a dangerous cycle whereby we take a huge interest in celebrities because they are leading the lifestyles that we would like to live. We are unable to, however, because most of us have to work boring jobs that take up all of our time, and so in the free time we do have, we want to sit and watch our favourite celebrities living great and interesting lives...
It would be great if, one day, we could break this cycle and stop giving all of our money to these utterly pointless celebrities (who, at the end of the day, are just normal people who have done something stupid on a reality TV show). Just think of the life you could lead if you saved that money and / or energy that you were going to exhaust on the celebrity and used it to better your own life! Just think of the lives that could be changed around the world if this money was spent on food and shelter for the poor, rather than more sports cars for the rich.
What are your thoughts on celebrities in our modern society? Do you feel they have a positive influence on society instead?
Please also feel free to ask questions about the language used in this discussion.
Hi Craig, not rhetorical at all. I do seem to live in a bubble (!) but no really I had no idea there was an interest in people who do nothing. Genuinely surprised, in my youth we used to be interested in train robbers, politicians, scoundrals, military chiefs. Who knew "we" now want to see what a woman, who is famous for having a big bottom, is doing?
Perhaps we have lost our way?
Yesterday Dr Tirej Brimo graduated as a medical doctor from a London University. Not such a big deal you might think, but the guy is a refugee from Syria. I might have an interest in what he has to say....
Sundeep:
Thanks for those interesting insights Sundeep! You wrote a lot and I appreciate you putting in the time and effort on this discussion! :)
I completely agree with your first point (if I understood it correctly)! We can not force people to listen and they have to make up their own minds. I think this is one of the biggest reasons that the world has a lot of problems, because we would all need to act together to change it: "Power in numbers".
Your second point was precisely the point made in the statement! I think, originally, this kind of "celebrity" was who we celebrated in society: Someone who helps people and makes a real difference!
Hayk:
I'm not sure I would agree that I couldn't live without singers Hayk :) I often think we have far too many singers these days, yet most of them sound exactly the same!
A lot of singers (especially "boybands" etc. are not even singers, they are products that music producers make a lot of money from! Some of them don't write their own music and some can't even sing! They need to have their voices changed by a computer and are often described as great "recording artists"!
I completely agree about footballers though! :)
Thanks for your comments!
Whole new word to me and very hard to understand. What is a celebrity?
