Discussion
I think that since people have gathered together, certainly in western history, we have been obsessed with the concept of God or whoever's hierarchical structure of the universe and our particular place in it. The medieval/classical 'great chain of being' had god at the top and then arch angels and angels leading down to humans starting with the King then the church leaders and all the way down to normal folks then animals then plants and lastly rocks etc.
Perhaps nowadays people tend to not believe in God and Angels, the King/Queen are just tourist attractions people also tend not to respect politicians or town mayors etc what does it leave us? People possibly still feel the need for hierarchy and the places have been filed with actors,sportsmen and recently reality show contestants.
In short, some people admiring fame itself probably still feel a need for a place in the hierarchy. Some will seek fame for reasons of finance/influence/power but others are a bit lacking emotionally and need validation through having others wanting to watch/admire them doing whatever it is they are famous for.
Perhaps nowadays people tend to not believe in God and Angels, the King/Queen are just tourist attractions people also tend not to respect politicians or town mayors etc what does it leave us? People possibly still feel the need for hierarchy and the places have been filed with actors,sportsmen and recently reality show contestants.
In short, some people admiring fame itself probably still feel a need for a place in the hierarchy. Some will seek fame for reasons of finance/influence/power but others are a bit lacking emotionally and need validation through having others wanting to watch/admire them doing whatever it is they are famous for.
Blame mass media.
To begin with, being famous for something would be limited to hearsay in your local community - now you can reach the entire planet. There's a lot of money involved in marketing to planet-sized markets, and now we've ended up with people being famous for, well, being famous.
The entire TV 'celebrity' thing makes me sick but I can grudgingly admire the cleverness of the marketeers who stuff this s
t down the idiot-majority throat... just as I despair about the idiot majority who are glued to their television sets.
It's not so much the 'celebrities' themselves (short of a few, who see it as a business and are very good at it) wanting to shout down at everyone how great they are - it's more so the businessmen who put them up there in the first place, to make money out of them. Think Cowell rather than any of the 'artists' he manages. Even though he himself runs the risk of being hoisted on his own petard by not being able to have a private life any more...
I don't think religion and lack of authority figures to worship are the key factors here. It's just the result of mass-media consumption and some very clever people in advertising and marketing.
Reminds me of that Bill Hicks sketch... 'by the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing.... kill yourself'
To begin with, being famous for something would be limited to hearsay in your local community - now you can reach the entire planet. There's a lot of money involved in marketing to planet-sized markets, and now we've ended up with people being famous for, well, being famous.
The entire TV 'celebrity' thing makes me sick but I can grudgingly admire the cleverness of the marketeers who stuff this s
t down the idiot-majority throat... just as I despair about the idiot majority who are glued to their television sets.It's not so much the 'celebrities' themselves (short of a few, who see it as a business and are very good at it) wanting to shout down at everyone how great they are - it's more so the businessmen who put them up there in the first place, to make money out of them. Think Cowell rather than any of the 'artists' he manages. Even though he himself runs the risk of being hoisted on his own petard by not being able to have a private life any more...
I don't think religion and lack of authority figures to worship are the key factors here. It's just the result of mass-media consumption and some very clever people in advertising and marketing.
Reminds me of that Bill Hicks sketch... 'by the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing.... kill yourself'
Lack of confidence.
We, as a species, still have a very real need to define our position in the pack, even though the pack is 6Bilion+ in size.
We need yard sticks to measure our worth by and so we create heroes and villains, famous and infamous people.
The World has changed massively in the last 100 years, more so in the last 25 some would say. Today we don't measure ourselves by the local Vicar or Solicitor or the town drunk, but by people who are further removed from our daily life.
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