Being a celebrity does not just mean living a rich, lavish lifestyle anymore; but being some of the world’s largest advocates for our society today. Celebrities are one of the best ways to promote companies products, set different trends, and voice opinions. Wherever you go, you will constantly hear about popular culture and what is new with whom. These people have tremendous influence on our world’s society more than you could even imagine.
To be a “celebrity” it means all across the world people know your name very well. From Kim Kardashian West, to Lebron James, and even Justin Bieber, each celebrity is well known from different backgrounds like business moguls, professional athletes, and musicians made famous from the Internet. To us from the “outside”, it seems like living the luxurious lifestyle is a very desirable one to say the least. Celebrities’ success is what makes many of them so admirable and drives their fans to try and push for the same lifestyle. People in today’s society look up to these famous people so much, sometimes they would follow anything that celebrity said or did. Popular culture is often something you get sucked into without even trying. Many people complain how much they dislike a celebrity, but will always be updated on the latest trends and headlines about the that specific person. Others admire a certain famous person so much they will check every social media multiple times a day just to stay caught up with their favorite celeb. Today, you will often see fans that develop what’s called a parasocial relationship with their favorite celebrity. This is when fans become so obsessed with someone famous and invest all their love and time into them, while the celebrity has zero knowledge of their existence. This is actually very common and happens more than you would imagine, especially with TV and movie characters. We are all guilty of falling in love with someone on TV and just need to know every detail of their personal life to feel connected to them. Sometimes, it makes me wonder what its really like to be on the celebrity side of that parasocial relationship.
Living in the limelight may be fun for some people, but as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Being a celebrity cannot be easy being you are such an impressionable person; especially the way the media makes it seem. One day America loves you, and the next you make a minor mistake and the entire world hates you and ridicules you. For example, almost every child star who has grown up in front an audience have made a mistake usually any regular kid would just be grounded for. In 2014, Justin Bieber was pulled over in Miami, Florida in his yellow Lamborghini for going 60 mph in a 30 trying to race another vehicle. He was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and prescription pills, non-violently resisting arrest, and driving with an expired liscence. In order to have his charges dropped, Bieber, agreed to attend 12 hours of anger management classes, attend a program of drunk driving awareness, and pay a hefty donation of $50,000 to a children’s charity. It may seem like he got out easy, but sometimes being rich and famous doesn’t buy you out of the limelight. These kids are judged so hard first by the media, and then by the entire world, making it a lot tougher to learn your lesson and move forward.
Although being famous could be a negative thing, there are also many positive aspects of it too. Olympics athletes are often forgotten about when they’re not on the main stage representing their countries. These athletes show the best examples of working hard for something and achieving their goals. Without the media, you wouldn’t know who Michael Phelps was before he won his gold medals. Their personal lives and how they got to the Olympics is unknown, until they are positively put into the light to represent our country as one of the world’s top athletes. These athletes become some of the greatest influences on young impressionable children who would love to grow up and strive in a sport just like their role model did.
Have you ever noticed how you seem to be more interested in a commercial advertisem*nt with a celebrity you admire? Companies are known to put your favorite household names in their advertisem*nt in order to boost their sales. More buyers will remember certain ads with a celebrity that they recognize rather than being just a random actor or actress. Also, numerous buyers will think that if their favorite celebrity is wearing the latest and greatest item, then maybe that’s what will contribute to them becoming famous or be perceived as a celebrity. This is a known simple way to make your brand stick out as a company.
Today, many celebrities are coming out with their own product lines instead of endorsing someone else’s. What better way to promote you own products than by wearing it yourself? Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner, and Rihanna have all figured out this mode of advertisem*nt themselves through social media. Each of these makeup moguls has at least 65 million followers on their person Instagram accounts. For them, advertising can simply be a quick post of them wearing their newest shade of lipstick. This has been an extremely successful way of advertising considering they all have million dollar companies. With newer features on the app Instagram, it makes it 10x easier for sellers to advertise their products and connect you right to their shop’s website with one tap.
Sometimes, being famous has its perks, especially when you are a very admired, well known person, when starting up a brand new company. Why start at the bottom when you can start from the top with millions of fans that would love your product regardless?
Sometimes the glitz and glam can seem like the only focus of celebrities, but in this day and age it is very different. On February 14th 2018, in Parkland, Florida there was a mass school shooting, killing 17 innocent lives. This now joins the list of one of the world’s most deadliest school shootings in history. This outraged countless celebrities firing them up for another giant nationwide debate. Celebrities have voiced their opinions so loud you can’t go anywhere without hearing about gun control debates today. On March 24th, 2018, there was a student led rally called March For Our Lives, which over a hundred celebrities participated in by speaking, singing, or even just supporting the event. The more celebrities encouraged people to talk about it, the more everyone had continued to talk about it. Celebrities have such a large platform to speak out on, that they have become the loudest voices for the world to hear. Many have vowed to use their power to make a difference in the world today.
Without celebrities in our society today, many things would be kept quiet and brushed under the rug. People are not afraid to voice their opinions and concerns anymore thanks to celebrities bringing up social issues, politics, and product advertising. Celebrities have shown us the lavish lifestyle for decades making them the most desirable humans alive. Although sometimes percieved badly, these people definitely shape how we live through trends and lifestyle views.As a whole, our society would be extremely different without them and their influence on everyone.
