Celebrity of the Year

Again, what does it say about our society that Britney Spears is the celebrity of the year?  What has she done to get this kind of attention and for what are we honoring her?  This is based on USA TODAY's Celebrity heat Index and it reflects weekly gossip magazines, TV ratings and Web traffic to see which celebrities were getting the most attention.  Britney had almost twice as many points as the second place person of Angelina Jolie. 

According to the USA TODAY, "What fascinates America about Britney is that it's a very sad story.  America is watching to see how this story ends, and they like a happy ending."  While this may be true, it says what many people in society value.  Are these the stories that should dominate our attention?

What about the people who are working hard to make a difference in the lives of others?  What about people who are saving lives?  Fighting for our freedom?  Fighting for their own lives because of illness?  As Buddha said, "All that we are arises with our thoughts."

What are you thinking about?

Comments

[Ivy Paul]

I'm in a Sociology of Pop Culture class right now, and we have spent some time talking about celebrity--what does it mean, how does someone become one, how is it different than in the past? From the sociological point of view (specifically the functionalist viewpoint), we pay attention to celebrities because it gives us something to talk about and they are us "writ large." By watching their lives, we have the opportunity to talk about aspects of life we might otherwise feel uncomfortable talking about: relationships, marriage and divorce, having and raising children, etc. Since we live in an increasingly diverse society, celebrities (and other pop culture) give us something in common. Some of this is fine, but I think we need to move towards finding other things in common, such as saving lives or making a difference like you mentioned. As leaders, we can try to bring people together around these larger issues which will not only promote peace by chipping away at social problems but also by increasing our trust and social ties with one another.