Seeing as you may, that I am a complete movie buff and I do idolise (for short time) some people from that industry - it's just natural that I googled this celebrity culture stuff and why normally sane people like me, are taken in by this celebrity culture. I am not proud of it but good cinema is escapism, fantasy and alternate universe for me.
I don't think that this obsession is good or going to do me any good. Many times I want to log out. I have greatly reduced time spent watching photos or celebrities/ their videos/ movie links.
Not doing this and not doing FB, chats, long phone calls, TV, politics and news - leaves you - with MORE time. It's incredible, the amount of time you have, when you don't do these things. Last year, I was in almost complete isolation from the world. I shut off all the doors and windows and the digital windows too! I don't think I regret that. It has made me a thinking woman. It has shown me the art of introspection - to question who I am, what I like to do and whether what I am doing is the right thing to do. I still mess up many things. I am no saint. But, I know that I am addicted and hence doing that. That level of awareness has come in. I can remember things better now as I am aware. I can backtrack a day's events and look at details, something I never did before. I seem to have grown up in some way. When there is so much noise, we do very little thinking. We're enamoured by this sensory pursuit of the glorious things we see.. the photoshopped celebrities, their life, even your friend's status on FB.. when you cut this noise, you can hear your heart beat. You know the true self and you know the social self - the one we put up for others. We try to see how different they are. You may choose to keep 2 selves or may merge into one. There is a lot of wisdom in yoga, philosophy, Vedantas and Indian spiritual teachings (plus Taoism and buddhism). At sometime these should be mandatory for a person. No other teaching is required. I was awed by the number of spin offs from the vedantas. How many books and movies are inspired by the rich knowledge of our forefathers?
I don't know which of the things has changed me a lot - a more natural, cool food or my introduction to yoga and spirituality or my job-free, stress-free life? I wish I have the dedication to pursue the Vedantas. I think, at some point of time, I will read them for sure. Now that they bumped into me - there will be a time for these... Every book.. every movie.. everything has a time. I don't know if it is related to your readiness to absorb it but it works. I have read many things long before I was ready.. long before I understood what the authors told. I don't know if it was some masterplan - but I did read mindlessly. I don't know if they've unknowingly affected me.
Life is the same for all of us, despite the paths we tread between birth and death. We have the same questions - who am I, what is my purpose, is there a God.. what is this universe, etc.
Vedanta Treatise: The Eternities:
http://www.amazon.com/Vedanta-Treatise-The-Eternities-A-Parthasarathy/dp/818711178X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379910751&sr=8-1&keywords=vedanta+treatise
Be Free From “Me”:
http://www.amazon.com/Be-Free-From-Me-ebook/dp/B00EUT6YES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379910954&sr=8-1&keywords=be+free+from+me
Back to the celebrity cult research:
Awesome article by Nate Pyle on being ordinary:
http://natepyle.com/radically-ordinary/
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/15/stephen-hawking-celebrity-culture
40% of adults expect to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame in some guise or other. Many more are enthralled by those who achieve this goal, often immoderately.
36% of a sample of 600 adults were afflicted to some degree by what was termed "celebrity-worship syndrome". The most extreme sufferers believed that the object of their ardour knew them, and declared themselves ready to die for their hero.
If only people could attend instead to something that really mattered: they'd soon forget their foolish fondness for fame. Something, perhaps, like the workings of the universe?
Milton called fame "that last infirmity of noble mind".
Katharine Hepburn, who once remarked: "I didn't have any desire to be an actress or to learn how to act. I just wanted to be famous."
Plato disapproved of competition for praise on the grounds that it would tempt the great to bend to the will of the crowd.
Will Self: "A culture that privileges notoriety above other human attributes – talent, power, beauty et al – is one in which expertise of any sort has been replaced by a perverse cult of the amateur."
Some seem to believe it is vital for human beings to create their own essence: depending on others' approval will only lead to disaster. "Fame enslaves the gods and men," according to Heraclitus, and contemporary studies have found that subjects motivated by praise and recognition experience lower wellbeing than those pursuing internally derived goals.
Those who actually achieve fame are supposedly vulnerable to conditions like "acquired situational narcissism". New York psychiatrist Robert B Millman says this affliction can cause a celebrity to get "so used to everyone looking at him that he stops looking back at them". This may lead to grandiose fantasies, rage and loss of empathy, which can in turn prompt relationship breakdown, addiction and loss of touch with reality.
A Chinese study found that subjects who idolised celebrities performed less well at work or college and enjoyed lower self-esteem than those who looked up to teachers or relations. Other studies have found higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress and general illness, accompanied by increased rates of addiction and crime.
For both the famous and their followers, the celebrity culture can make bearable what otherwise would not be. (If we all read the Vedanta and practise yoga/ meditation and philosophy this could be avoided).
For us, steeped as we are in self-love and entitlement, insignificance seems to have become insufferable. Today, for many, to be a nonentity is to be a non-entity. Fame may not eliminate the bleakness of an uncaring cosmos, but it can mitigate its impact. Becoming an acolyte of the elect also seems to help: devotion earns you a share of your hero's aura.
We also seem desperate to relieve the loneliness of Hawking's universe. Personal relationships are difficult, yet stars whose narcissism dooms their marriages can bask in the unconditional adulation of their following; the latter in turn enjoy "parasocial interaction" with gorgeous pseudo-chums without fear of rejection or betrayal.
Today, many of us know more about the lives of stars than about those of our relations or friends. The extended family may have withered and community life may have waned; yet we can share the successes and reverses of the famous, and hear them talk back to us on Twitter. If we want to, we can revel in their misfortunes and laugh at them behind their backs, in a way that real-life intimacy does not permit. At sites such as The Ghoul Pool, we can even bet on when they will die.
Psychologist John Maltby of Leicester University, who specialises in social influences on individuals, believes young people can benefit from becoming fans of the same stars. "Sharing facts and gossip brings groups together and helps them bond," he says. "It's part of the normal functioning of society."
"Celebrities are informal life coaches. By watching them, people learn how to groom, learn how to wear their hair, learn what to say, learn what opinions are sexy, learn what's right-on and not right-on. They're assimilating all sorts of life-skills." Since such education is widely shared, it can function as a "social adhesive".
celebrity is a vital ‘social adhesive’ in a society fragmenting under the pressures of globalisation, digitisation and loss of community.
Also - to read: http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/994
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200407/seeing-starlight-celebrity-obsession
I don't think that this obsession is good or going to do me any good. Many times I want to log out. I have greatly reduced time spent watching photos or celebrities/ their videos/ movie links.
Not doing this and not doing FB, chats, long phone calls, TV, politics and news - leaves you - with MORE time. It's incredible, the amount of time you have, when you don't do these things. Last year, I was in almost complete isolation from the world. I shut off all the doors and windows and the digital windows too! I don't think I regret that. It has made me a thinking woman. It has shown me the art of introspection - to question who I am, what I like to do and whether what I am doing is the right thing to do. I still mess up many things. I am no saint. But, I know that I am addicted and hence doing that. That level of awareness has come in. I can remember things better now as I am aware. I can backtrack a day's events and look at details, something I never did before. I seem to have grown up in some way. When there is so much noise, we do very little thinking. We're enamoured by this sensory pursuit of the glorious things we see.. the photoshopped celebrities, their life, even your friend's status on FB.. when you cut this noise, you can hear your heart beat. You know the true self and you know the social self - the one we put up for others. We try to see how different they are. You may choose to keep 2 selves or may merge into one. There is a lot of wisdom in yoga, philosophy, Vedantas and Indian spiritual teachings (plus Taoism and buddhism). At sometime these should be mandatory for a person. No other teaching is required. I was awed by the number of spin offs from the vedantas. How many books and movies are inspired by the rich knowledge of our forefathers?
I don't know which of the things has changed me a lot - a more natural, cool food or my introduction to yoga and spirituality or my job-free, stress-free life? I wish I have the dedication to pursue the Vedantas. I think, at some point of time, I will read them for sure. Now that they bumped into me - there will be a time for these... Every book.. every movie.. everything has a time. I don't know if it is related to your readiness to absorb it but it works. I have read many things long before I was ready.. long before I understood what the authors told. I don't know if it was some masterplan - but I did read mindlessly. I don't know if they've unknowingly affected me.
Life is the same for all of us, despite the paths we tread between birth and death. We have the same questions - who am I, what is my purpose, is there a God.. what is this universe, etc.
Vedanta Treatise: The Eternities:
http://www.amazon.com/Vedanta-Treatise-The-Eternities-A-Parthasarathy/dp/818711178X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379910751&sr=8-1&keywords=vedanta+treatise
Be Free From “Me”:
http://www.amazon.com/Be-Free-From-Me-ebook/dp/B00EUT6YES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379910954&sr=8-1&keywords=be+free+from+me
Back to the celebrity cult research:
Awesome article by Nate Pyle on being ordinary:
http://natepyle.com/radically-ordinary/
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/15/stephen-hawking-celebrity-culture
40% of adults expect to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame in some guise or other. Many more are enthralled by those who achieve this goal, often immoderately.
36% of a sample of 600 adults were afflicted to some degree by what was termed "celebrity-worship syndrome". The most extreme sufferers believed that the object of their ardour knew them, and declared themselves ready to die for their hero.
If only people could attend instead to something that really mattered: they'd soon forget their foolish fondness for fame. Something, perhaps, like the workings of the universe?
Milton called fame "that last infirmity of noble mind".
Katharine Hepburn, who once remarked: "I didn't have any desire to be an actress or to learn how to act. I just wanted to be famous."
Plato disapproved of competition for praise on the grounds that it would tempt the great to bend to the will of the crowd.
Will Self: "A culture that privileges notoriety above other human attributes – talent, power, beauty et al – is one in which expertise of any sort has been replaced by a perverse cult of the amateur."
Some seem to believe it is vital for human beings to create their own essence: depending on others' approval will only lead to disaster. "Fame enslaves the gods and men," according to Heraclitus, and contemporary studies have found that subjects motivated by praise and recognition experience lower wellbeing than those pursuing internally derived goals.
Those who actually achieve fame are supposedly vulnerable to conditions like "acquired situational narcissism". New York psychiatrist Robert B Millman says this affliction can cause a celebrity to get "so used to everyone looking at him that he stops looking back at them". This may lead to grandiose fantasies, rage and loss of empathy, which can in turn prompt relationship breakdown, addiction and loss of touch with reality.
A Chinese study found that subjects who idolised celebrities performed less well at work or college and enjoyed lower self-esteem than those who looked up to teachers or relations. Other studies have found higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress and general illness, accompanied by increased rates of addiction and crime.
For both the famous and their followers, the celebrity culture can make bearable what otherwise would not be. (If we all read the Vedanta and practise yoga/ meditation and philosophy this could be avoided).
For us, steeped as we are in self-love and entitlement, insignificance seems to have become insufferable. Today, for many, to be a nonentity is to be a non-entity. Fame may not eliminate the bleakness of an uncaring cosmos, but it can mitigate its impact. Becoming an acolyte of the elect also seems to help: devotion earns you a share of your hero's aura.
We also seem desperate to relieve the loneliness of Hawking's universe. Personal relationships are difficult, yet stars whose narcissism dooms their marriages can bask in the unconditional adulation of their following; the latter in turn enjoy "parasocial interaction" with gorgeous pseudo-chums without fear of rejection or betrayal.
Today, many of us know more about the lives of stars than about those of our relations or friends. The extended family may have withered and community life may have waned; yet we can share the successes and reverses of the famous, and hear them talk back to us on Twitter. If we want to, we can revel in their misfortunes and laugh at them behind their backs, in a way that real-life intimacy does not permit. At sites such as The Ghoul Pool, we can even bet on when they will die.
Psychologist John Maltby of Leicester University, who specialises in social influences on individuals, believes young people can benefit from becoming fans of the same stars. "Sharing facts and gossip brings groups together and helps them bond," he says. "It's part of the normal functioning of society."
"Celebrities are informal life coaches. By watching them, people learn how to groom, learn how to wear their hair, learn what to say, learn what opinions are sexy, learn what's right-on and not right-on. They're assimilating all sorts of life-skills." Since such education is widely shared, it can function as a "social adhesive".
celebrity is a vital ‘social adhesive’ in a society fragmenting under the pressures of globalisation, digitisation and loss of community.
Also - to read: http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/994
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200407/seeing-starlight-celebrity-obsession
No comments:
Post a Comment