Celebrity Obsession in America According

Celebrity Obsession in America

According to news reports at the time, when O.J. Simpson was on trial for murdering his ex-wife and Ron Goldman in 1995, national sales of white Ford Broncos,

Bruno Magli shoes, and white Akita dogs all increased dramatically. In fact, Bruno

Magli sales of the particular model skyrocketed as a result of the unexpected publicity of the association with Simpson, and pet stores reported that people asked for "O.J. dogs" instead of referring to the Akita by name. Such is the power of celebrity in American culture.

Since then, Princess Diana was killed when her chauffeur crashed trying to avoid paparazzi, "thug life" became the life theme of many urban Americans who aspired to emulate an admitted former drug dealers and proud violent felon with a recording contracts, and Paris Hilton parlayed her appearance in a graphic sexually explicit video into successful releases of a television series, a book, a music album, a line of women's clothing line, and, a perfume. She also accumulated several DWI citations and contempt of court charges to find herself jailed in the Loa Angeles County Jail.

After her release, Paris Hilton continues to be considered an "A-List" celebrity, and with exceptions that are infrequent enough to make headlines when they occur, O.J.

Simpson is still welcomed in trendy restaurants and clubs and even sought out by fans for his picture and autograph, despite having been conclusively proven (in civil court) to have murdered two people in cold blood. As if almost to close that circle, this year also saw the rise to fame of Kim Kardashian, propelled only by the release of her X-rated video and the fact that her late father, Robert Kardashian, was apparently a close friend of O.J. Simpson who renewed his California license to practice law in connection with Simpson's 1995 murder trial. All three are constantly on the covers of the many different celebrity-oriented magazines and gossip columns publicize every detail of their lives with no shortage of popular interest. The same demand for their pictures and those of virtually anybody famous for just about any conceivable reason (or none) still fuels a market filled by their relentless pursuit by the same community of celebrity paparazzi who probably caused the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

The Psychology of Celebrity Emulation and Its Detrimental Effect on Society:

Advertisers have long known the power of associating their products with recognized celebrities, but the effect of O.J. Simpson and Paris Hilton on American culture illustrate the extent to which virtually anyone who is famous - even for very negative behavior - can inspire emulation. Psychologists explain the phenomenon of celebrity worship and emulation as a reflection of the need of many people to be associated with anything connected to someone famous (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2003).

Perhaps the only thing surprising about that is the fact that people admire even those without any worthwhile talent or accomplishments, those who are famous for nothing but being famous, and the fact that they even seek to emulate celebrities who are known for living vapid, unproductive, felonious (and in at least one case), murderous lives.

This impulse to copy celebrities might be harmless, even beneficial, if only positive behavior were capable of generating popular emulation. Unfortunately, that is not the case and the fact that the public makes no distinction between negative celebrity behavior and positive behavior means, simply, that state prisons and federal correctional facilities are now populated by prisoners who wear some of the same tattoos as rap artists and that young women are (probably) much more likely to drive drunk because even that links them, on some level, to idols like Paris Hilton.

Celebrities Tend to Make Bad Role Models:

Experience has shown that even people who achieve significant goals through their own hard work and the use of legitimate intellectual talents and business skills may still be flawed as people, sometimes quite significantly. Successful entrepreneurs, real estate moguls, political figures and wealthy investors sometimes exercise very poor judgment in their personal lives. A sitting two-term U.S. president embarrassed himself, his family, his office, and his nation by asking a White House intern to perform sexual acts with a cigar in the Oval Office and then perjured himself by lying about it defiantly.

Blind emulation, even of people who are capable of legitimate achievements, in spite of their shortcomings as human beings is one thing. It could be argued that despite his personal indiscretions, Bill Clinton still deserves attention as a public speaker by virtue of his positive human qualities and the knowledge and advice he offers in areas of his greatest strengths. However, it is quite another thing to worship and blindly emulate celebrities who only "achievements" are having been born into wealth, or with good looks, or athletic prowess. If there is no guarantee that achieving worthwhile goals through one's own hard work makes one an admirable person, there is even less reason to admire those whose fame or notoriety is not a function of any legitimate achievement or accomplishment.

Generally, it is obviously more likely (although obviously, no guarantee) that someone whose achievements relate to superior intellect will also be someone worth emulating in other respects than someone whose achievements are either nonexistent or relate more to natural abilities that are not inherently admirable. Two well-known examples would be Michael Jackson and Brittany Spears: the former has paid out millions of dollars to purchase the silence of the families whose children he abused sexually; the latter is currently in the news almost daily for her ridiculously irresponsible and childish behavior. Michael Jackson's might be so bizarre that it may have undermined his long successful career, but Brittany Spears currently has one of the best selling new music albums, despite her most recent public performance that was generally considered to be a musical disaster.