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The Cult of Celebrity During a Global Pandemic
Is time running out on celebrity culture?
I recently came across the song ‘The Cult of Personality’ by Living Colour and was not only blown away by the musical artistry (who said black people can’t do rock), but the lyrics rang astonishingly true leaving me to pause for thought. Even though the song came out in 1988, now more than ever, its relevance speaks volumes today:
I sell the things you need to be I’m the smiling face on your T.V.
I’m the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me
– A small part of the lyrics by Living Colour.
We might think of the cult of personality as being about politicians who are presented as these big figures to be appreciated and respected. But really, it can relate to an individual who creates an identity for the consumption of the masses through lies, the media, the arts and social engineering. Sounds a lot like reality TV (think Keeping up with the Kardashian’s), but the disconcerting thing is that we come across these characters all the time. Not only on TV screens, in magazines, books and on the radio, but in real life too. We can’t get away from them.
This now leads us to the cult of celebrity. Defined as the ‘tendency of people to care too much about famous people’, we’ve become conditioned to admire these personalities. Even if you claim not to care about them, there is still a small part of you that can’t shake off this fascination as they live such disparate lives to you and me. Sometimes looking up celebrity news and checking out these social media stars is a guilty pleasure to monotonous day-to-day activities.
We have created a new religion where celebrity worship has taken centre stage in our lives. This idolatry is manifested in our society through the idea we have of influencers and celebrities. The media plays a major role in all of this. They encourage the cult of celebrity and pump out stories daily to keep us satiated enough to navigate through life at a pace we’re unsatisfied with…
