The death of celebrity culture?
October 9th 2010 19:25
Is it possible that our society's obsession with celebrities may finally be on the wane? According to some reports, this is exactly what is happening: our society is experiencing "celebrity fatigue" and we've gotten to the point where we really just don't care anymore. Rather than following the ins and outs of what Lindsay, Brad and Angelina, and all the rest of them are up to, as a group we're more likely to be interested in what's happening in our own lives.
There's plenty of evidence to back up these claims. According to an article published late last year in The Daily Beast, the so-called "Britney economy" has taken a serious beating. These days, "a typical celebrity shot sells for 31 per cent less than it did in 2007", and some are selling for much, much less than that. Major celebrity gossip magazines like US Weekly have greatly reduced their photo budgets, with the aforementioned star-sodden publication dropping its annual photography expenditure from US$8 million a year to less than US$5 million in 2009. Still sounds like way too much to me, but with a cut of nearly 50 per cent, these figures suggest that a major societal shift is underway.
Of course, predictions like these have been made before, and as with all cultural evolutions you never actually know when they'll happen until after the fact.... but it seems to me like now is an ideal time for change. There are so many more pressing issues to be pondered than whether Kristen and Rob really are an item, or if Jennifer Aniston will ever find true love. Post-GFC, our economy remains on shaky ground, the environment is in tatters and more than a decade into the 21st century we're still seeing racism, sexism and homophobia played out in the media on a daily basis. Isn't it time we started to consider what really matters?
Now, I know what you're thinking: this blog is just a perpetuation of celebrity culture, isn't it? And you'd be right. Hollywood stars do continue to interest me (to an extent), but only because they're what I consider to be "real" celebrities; people worthy of admiration and respect for their undeniable talent. Reality stars, novelty singers and certain folks who are famous simply for being born into wealthy families are - in my opinion - not real celebrities. They haven't done anything to prove themselves worthy, so why should we care what they're doing with their lives?
It'll be very interesting to see whether these predictions of the death of celebrity culture have any merit, or whether it's just another case of wishful thinking. As for me, after more than two and a half years of writing for I Dream of Hollywood, my interest in the subject matter of this blog has waned considerably... and as such, the time for me to pass the “blog baton” to another writer is nigh.
For some, the obsession with celebrities will never die... but for most, it will probably burn out in time.
There's plenty of evidence to back up these claims. According to an article published late last year in The Daily Beast, the so-called "Britney economy" has taken a serious beating. These days, "a typical celebrity shot sells for 31 per cent less than it did in 2007", and some are selling for much, much less than that. Major celebrity gossip magazines like US Weekly have greatly reduced their photo budgets, with the aforementioned star-sodden publication dropping its annual photography expenditure from US$8 million a year to less than US$5 million in 2009. Still sounds like way too much to me, but with a cut of nearly 50 per cent, these figures suggest that a major societal shift is underway.
Of course, predictions like these have been made before, and as with all cultural evolutions you never actually know when they'll happen until after the fact.... but it seems to me like now is an ideal time for change. There are so many more pressing issues to be pondered than whether Kristen and Rob really are an item, or if Jennifer Aniston will ever find true love. Post-GFC, our economy remains on shaky ground, the environment is in tatters and more than a decade into the 21st century we're still seeing racism, sexism and homophobia played out in the media on a daily basis. Isn't it time we started to consider what really matters?
Now, I know what you're thinking: this blog is just a perpetuation of celebrity culture, isn't it? And you'd be right. Hollywood stars do continue to interest me (to an extent), but only because they're what I consider to be "real" celebrities; people worthy of admiration and respect for their undeniable talent. Reality stars, novelty singers and certain folks who are famous simply for being born into wealthy families are - in my opinion - not real celebrities. They haven't done anything to prove themselves worthy, so why should we care what they're doing with their lives?
It'll be very interesting to see whether these predictions of the death of celebrity culture have any merit, or whether it's just another case of wishful thinking. As for me, after more than two and a half years of writing for I Dream of Hollywood, my interest in the subject matter of this blog has waned considerably... and as such, the time for me to pass the “blog baton” to another writer is nigh.
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