Celebrity, in its various forms, has long held a place of esteem in our culture. People who become famous by achieving great accomplishments in the arts or by becoming popular in their field are often considered celebrities. In modern times, many famous individuals have risen to celebrity status due to their ability to attract attention and generate sales of their products or services. Celebrities play a significant role in shaping social, economic and political power as they influence public opinion and encourage the commodification of ideas, values and products.
A number of scholars have studied the concept of celebrity, and their work has illuminated the cultural forces that shape contemporary celebrity culture. A few key books on the subject include David Marshall’s Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture, which explains how celebrity has become a powerful force that transcends entertainment to permeate political life; Chris Rojek’s Celebrity, which explores the blurred line between fame and celebrity as it reaches into commercial, political and social spheres; and John Grierson’s The Cult of Celebrity, which examines how celebrities act as peddlers of culture, creating their own brand of celebrity by selling products and images that are ascribed to them.
Initially, the term celebrity was used to describe those with a large following or the ability to influence the popular taste of a given time. Some of the first celebrities were figures from antiquity, including Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Alexander the Great. In medieval Europe, saints, kings and heroes enjoyed the kind of legendary reputation that is sometimes associated with celebrity. In the 19th century, the idea of celebrity crystallised as a result of developments in print media. For example, the emergence of penny presses and photography enabled more people to hear of and see stage actors like Sarah Bernhardt. This and other developments led to a rise in celebrity.
The emergence of the mass media in the 20th century brought celebrity to a new level of significance. Through gossip journalism, manufactured publicity and the mass circulation of pictures and stories of a famous person’s daily life, it was possible to create the illusion of intimacy between the person and her audience. This allowed audiences to ‘know’ a celebrity and, in the process, buy into her image.
This phenomenon has been amplified by the digital age. The internet has democratised celebrity, with a wide variety of people able to achieve fame and influence through their online activity. In addition, the ubiquity of reality TV has helped to create stars of ordinary people, such as the Kardashians or Jaci Velazquez. Some of these people became famous as a result of their television show, others through their music career and still others through the creation of a successful business. Increasingly, politicians have also become celebrities due to their policies or the controversy that surrounds them. All of these factors have contributed to a growing sense of celebrity that, for some people, seems out of step with the rest of society.