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Offline motorollinTopic starter

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"Celebrities"
« on: March 13, 2007, 09:44:44 AM »
What is the appeal of "celebrities"?

I don't mean genuine celebrities who contribute some form of art, culture, good deeds etc to society. I mean the vacuous television/magazine celebrities who seem to do nothing but simply exist. I mean the Paris Hiltons; the "Big Brother" evictees; the footballers wives. What do these people actually *do* to deserve the title of celebrity? Why are the public so obsessed with them?

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Offline McVenco

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2007, 10:13:18 AM »
Quote
What do these people actually *do* to deserve the title of celebrity?


They pay a lot of money to gossip magazines to print articles about them? :-)

Really, I don't know. Apparently there are people who are interested in their lives for some reason. I guess it's just a matter of being rich and showing up on the right places. As long as those people keep going to parties where a lot of gossip 'journalists' are and as long as they keep doing things that shock or otherwise might be interesting to the Great Consuming Crowd of Dumb People, they print and sell it.

It's just a matter of cooperation between these "celebs" and gossip magazines.
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Offline CannonFodder

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2007, 10:32:06 AM »
Disclaimer: Please don't shoot me!

Having worked in the TV industry, I can say with 99% certainty thats it's a "(camp)gay thang".

Just my opinion.
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Offline motorollinTopic starter

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2007, 11:47:56 AM »
I disagree. I know loads of straight men and women whose lives revolve around the goings-on in the Big Brother house, the personal lives of footballer's wives and who is in the latest issue of Heat magazine.

I suspect it's because their own lives are so dull that they feel the need to obsess over people who are considered to be celebrities for some reason.

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Offline PMC

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2007, 11:48:27 AM »
I wish I knew...  

Once upon a time, you could be an athlete, a gifted artist, an author or even a brilliant wit to get fame and adulation.

Now all you have to do is either sit in front of four record company execs, who decide what the market is going to listen to (not the other way round) and if you've got the right "look" everything else can be worked on (Girls Aloud et al).  Or you can go into the Big Brother house, be as thick as pig sh!t and end up a mulit-millionaire (Jade Goody).  

Failing the above, you can just be photographed half-cut getting out of a limo sans pants with your skirt round your ears (Paris Hilton, why?).  

Society today seems to reward mediocrity or even borderline retardedness at the expense of those who have something interesting to say.  Personally, I just turn off my TV set during the endless text-vote-TV shows and ignore the screaming headlines in Nuts magazine showing the latest airbrushed media starlet in her undercrackers.  My TV seems to be spending more and more time switched off lately.
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Offline motorollinTopic starter

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2007, 12:14:28 PM »
My TV spends quite a lot of time switched on, but only because my boyfriend likes it. The only programme I really pay attention to is Battlestar Galactica. Between the constant flow of "celebrities" making idiots of themselves and marketing during the ad breaks, there's not a lot worth my attention on the TV.

It makes me sad that a lot of great artists, musicians, actors etc are unable to make themselves known because they are lost in the sea of talentless morons  :madashell:  :madashell:  :madashell:  :madashell:

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moto
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Offline CannonFodder

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2007, 12:20:17 PM »
Quote
It makes me sad that a lot of great artists, musicians, actors etc are unable to make themselves known because they are lost in the sea of talentless morons


You could look at it another way:

These artists are known only to those people who deserve to appreciate their talent, leaving the talentless morons to be known en-masse by the other talentless morons. :-D
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Offline CannonFodder

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2007, 12:24:21 PM »
Quote

motorollin wrote:
I disagree. I know loads of straight men and women whose lives revolve around the goings-on in the Big Brother house, the personal lives of footballer's wives and who is in the latest issue of Heat magazine.

I suspect it's because their own lives are so dull that they feel the need to obsess over people who are considered to be celebrities for some reason.

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"Camp" culture has been absorbed wholesale into popular culture these days though, I believe they call it "Bling" now but it's the same thing.

Also I think the attraction is like this: "I am a talentless waste of oxygen, the 'Celebrities' are talentless morons.  If I behave exactly the same way as them, then 'one day'(TM) I too can be a rich talentless moron."
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Offline Agafaster

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2007, 12:28:25 PM »
Quote

motorollin wrote:
What is the appeal of "celebrities"?

I don't mean genuine celebrities who contribute some form of art, culture, good deeds etc to society. I mean the vacuous television/magazine celebrities who seem to do nothing but simply exist. I mean the Paris Hiltons; the "Big Brother" evictees; the footballers wives. What do these people actually *do* to deserve the title of celebrity? Why are the public so obsessed with them?

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Offline PMC

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2007, 12:41:52 PM »
Haha, agreed!

All you need to be famous is either a crap singing voice, ridiculous plastic tits, an IQ of seven, a footballing spouse or even a blend of the above (step forward Victoria Beckham, can't sing, thick, a face like a slapped arse and an eating disorder).  

But then the majority of the public is obsessed with the above, for the life of me I cannot understand why.  Do I care if Paris Hilton's beaver is on show when she gets out of a car?  Nope, although it's arguably her most intelligent feature.  However, for some reason this constitutes news.
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Offline Oliver

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2007, 01:13:54 PM »
Quote

CannonFodder wrote:
..."Camp" culture has been absorbed wholesale into popular culture these days though, I believe they call it "Bling" now but it's the same thing...


Really?  I can't say I've thought about it a great deal, but I had assumed the 'bling' thing to be related to US ghetto gangster culture, and a desire to demonstrate one's success and street credibility.  The prodigious display of jewellery, and wearing of ordinary clothing in alternative style, have been observed long before 'bling' was pretending to be a word.  How exactly did you draw the connection with a culture amongst homosexual men?
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Offline CannonFodder

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #11 on: March 13, 2007, 01:26:24 PM »
Quote

Oliver wrote:
Quote

CannonFodder wrote:
..."Camp" culture has been absorbed wholesale into popular culture these days though, I believe they call it "Bling" now but it's the same thing...


Really?  I can't say I've thought about it a great deal, but I had assumed the 'bling' thing to be related to US ghetto gangster culture, and a desire to demonstrate one's success and street credibility.  The prodigious display of jewellery, and wearing of ordinary clothing in alternative style, have been observed long before 'bling' was pretending to be a word.  How exactly did you draw the connection with a culture amongst homosexual men?


Note that I said "(Camp) gay" men.  Big difference.

What is the difference between an celebrity obsessed attention seeking "queen" wearing expensive/outlandish clothing/jewelry and an celebrity obsessed attention seeking "chav" wearing expensive/outlandish clothing/jewelry? (Other than sexual orientation, though there may be many gay chavs I would guess)
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Offline PMC

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2007, 02:34:29 PM »
It's best expressed thus:

I have no problem with anyone who happens to be gay on my TV, I also have no problem with anyone who finds camp humour funny.

But I do have an issue with folk who behave like they're the only people ever to have exited the closet and act faux camp because they think it's outrageous (think early Graham Norton, Alan Carr).  It isn't, it gets right up my nose.  Both Paul O'Grady and Julian Clary incorporated campness into their acts a decade ago and were a damn sight funnier.  In the case of the latter, he's got a very finely honed wit which is used to devastating effect and obv an intellectual.  No problem here.

Matt Lucas (who's gay himself) satirises the above bad examples perfectly with his OTT Dafyd character.  
 
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Offline Speelgoedmannetje

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2007, 05:24:14 PM »
Quote

motorollin wrote:
It makes me sad that a lot of great artists, musicians, actors etc are unable to make themselves known because they are lost in the sea of talentless morons  :madashell:  :madashell:  :madashell:  :madashell:

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Offline NoFastMem

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Re: "Celebrities"
« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2007, 06:12:51 PM »
"People are dumb" is the answer to most of life's questions.
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