Christopher Jacob asked whether celebrities are raising the bar of beauty to artificial standards, but maybe we should look at what causes America’s obsession with the rich and famous.
Heidi Montag is just one of many examples of celebrity narcissism in America and it's effects on our nation - most specifically our youth. While I'm personally not too familiar with her story, many reality stars could care less about their influence on society since they are so infatuated by their own pursuit of fame (which they equate to happiness), hat they are willing to do anything in order to make their dreams of stardom a reality. This behavior is reinforced by a media trying to do anything to stay above water by remaining relevant. For a magazine like People, which for years has been focused portraying the personal lives of the popular, it's no surprise that they are forced to cash in and publish an article on a reality television star.
Arguably the defining trend in television of the last decade, reality TV has exploded for 2 main reasons. First, this genre is one of the cheapest forms of programming to produce, so business executives love them. Second, they establish enormous audiences that feel a connection with these 'real' people, and seeing these 'average' Americans become elevated to stardom keeps the American dream of fame and fortune alive for their massive audiences.
People think, "Well, if Paris Hilton can be famous and she has no talent, why can't I?" To do this, they can use the Internet to post blogs, pictures, videos, etc. and try to get the world to pay attention to them. They create what is almost like a celebrity internet persona using the web to try and capture their dream of fame, and with more sites like youtube, twitter, flickr, and facebook becoming more and more popular, their potential Internet audience grows every day. These psuedo stars tend to extract different formulas of archetypes they’ve seen on reality TV and emulate the same behavior in an effort to achieve similar celebrity status. Typically, the most memorable reality TV characters are the controversial and outspoken manipulators, so naturally this is the behavior that is, to borrow a social psychology term, modeled by those who want to have similar success.
Another part of fitting into an archetype is having the right image, which is precisely why the number of plastic surgeries in America has soared in recently memory. By having a media that reinforces stereotypical definitions of physical beauty, individuals become discontent if they do not perceive that their own personal image coincides with Hollywood’s definition of attractiveness. And, after all, these individuals are trying to find self-worth through pleasing others, so they feel justified in suffering through their eating disorders or participating in self-mutilation, even if it is artfully done by plastic surgeons. The ends justify the means, right? I mean, isn’t the American dream all about working hard and overcoming obstacles in order to achieve your aspirations?
So, who really is to blame for all of this? Is it the fault of the celebrity for wanting to remain relevant? Is it the fault of the tabloids that encourage poor behavior in order to sell magazines? Should we blame the television industry for pleasing both their stock holders and their audiences by providing ‘reality’ television? Should we blame Glenn Beck… because we can? Should we blame capitalism (gasp!) for forcing businesses to pursue the most profitable endeavors regardless of what they may be doing to our society as a whole? Can’t the government do something to regulate this filth?
Well, fortunately for capitalism and my safety (disagreeing with gun-totin’ uber extremists, sometimes known as tea-partiers, can be hazardous to one’s health), I’m going to go ahead and shift responsibility to the public on this one. Ultimately, without the consumer, there would be no audience and therefore no market. Ergo, if the source is removed, the vicious cycle never starts. But what’s the best way to do this without usurping an individual’s freedom to pursue happiness ?
By sparking a change in the consumer’s preference, Americans can shift their attention towards more enlightening forms of entertainment in order to help them better contribute to society. Often times, people read tabloids or watch reality television because they are bored or don’t know anything better to do. These sorts of activities are rarely rewarding and provide little to no personal development or benefit to society at large. Other times, people say they follow celebrities as a sort of escape from the stresses of their own personal lives, and while escapism can be a valid stress reduction technique, there are other coping methods which can serve the same purpose and be much more engaging. The apathy and disinterest in personal progression can be blamed by on a whole host of sources, but ultimately every American should be held responsible for their own actions and behaviors.
But if you or any of your friends are considering plastic surgery as a way of fixing your physical flaws, please consider consulting a professional psychologist before turning to a plastic surgeon. It is estimated that at least 1% of Americans suffer from Body Dysmorphic Disorder, a debilitating mental illness with serious health consequences if it goes untreated.
For more information on the subject, please pick up Dr. Drew Pinsky’s NY Times Best Seller, The Mirror Effect.
Great post about a social theme that seems to continually plague our star-dazed society. I definitely think a more effective approach would be to address the consumer, the root of it all - if you cut off a branch, the tree still grows, but if you cut off the roots, you take care of the whole tree.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I hate all this glorification of exterior appearance without regard to interior value, I catch even myself getting caught up in it to a certain degree. And I can blame the media all I want for putting those expectations of perfection on me, or I can simply choose to do my best and just be confident with who I am - a choice completely within my power to do.
And I agree that most of what 'reality tv' shows is completely worthless and unproductive - it just wastes time. It paradoxically lowers the standard of who our heroes are while also raising our expectations unreasonably (at least as far as appearance is concerned). Yet I think it's only one symptom of our growing societal delusion. While we in the US might have largely defeated widespread poverty and hunger within our borders (though a complete work remains unfinished), the demons of the first world are trying to sneak in to take their place - decadence, narcissism, boredom. Granted, those words are very loaded, and I don't think we're really so far gone as to equate our society with those dystopian futures described in some sci-fi films. But an awareness of how the norms that we create today can affect the trends of tommorrow should be important. If these problems are brought about by stars who as you say "do not care about their effects on those around them and their role in society" coupled with the media's pursuit of their own interest, then it seems the root of the problem is an out-of-proportion focus on self-interest on the part of these groups. And that's the dark side of the 'American dream' - is this really all there is to things? An achievement of fame that helps lead others down a road to self-loathing? It's great to be free to pursue your aspirations, but I think people have forgotten to question the rightness of those aspirations and the possibility that they are not the only ones who will have to pay the price for achieving those aspirations.
The question then is how do you spark a change in people? With what do you replace all these shallow activities? Personally I think there are more than enough problems in the world that could keep people busy and distracted from boredom. The real world is far more fascinating than The Real World (MTV), and there are plenty of extremely beautiful people who walk past us every single day, but we often don't care because they may not be famous, or we're so distracted in our pursuit of our own personal beauty that we neglect what's right in front of us - a sad and ironic picture.
Sorry, this comment rambled, but your entry sparked a lot of thought...thanks for the post!
Great post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the responsibility rests with the consumer. However, in order to break free of the grasp of reality TV, we first need to understand the attraction to reality television. You touched on boredom and stress-relief, but as you said, there are other ways of dealing with boredom and stress. Therefore, the attraction to reality television must have deeper social roots.
Reality television is not an accurate portrayal of reality. It is a twisted, more glamorous, and more dramatic version of reality. Shows like Jersey Shore portray a reality that is unlike anything an average citizen would ever experience. The entire plot of this and many reality shows is centered around personal dramas. Some people need to constantly have drama in their life. If their personal life is too mundane, they can get lost in the chaotic realtionship of "reality stars." This desire for drama emerges, I think, because human survival has become too simple. All of our basic needs can be easily met, but this energy that was once used for survival purposes remains. This results in us (Americans) creating chaos in our lives for the purposes of solving it.
This can be found in other outlets besides the attraction to drama. As the stardard of living has gone up, the number of people diagnosed with psychological illnesses has gone up. There is greater crime and people are generally less satisfied with life. We've lost our "purpose," in a sense.
It's sad seeing Heidi's photo, I've always thought people look their best as they are naturally but this effect you point out certainly shows how no matter what we think of others the way we see ourselves typically seems to be much more critical. We see the pluses in others and the negatives in ourselves rather than appreciating the pluses we do have.
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