Monday, April 28, 2014

Blog Post- Due May 2nd- Period 3

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/opinion/inequality-and-the-modern-culture-of-celebrity.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0

Consider the author's tone, structure of the article, validity of evidence, persuasive techniques, and your personal reaction.
2. Please add an intelligent comment (minimum 5 sentences) in response to the linked articles from The New York Times.  Be sure to use a minimum of one quote in your response.
3. Optional: Comment on a classmates post in a second post (minimum 3 sentences)
*Use only your first name, last initial and class period.

19 comments:

  1. I think that the idea of celebrities can be both good and bad. In the article it says about celebrities, "They are as intimate as they are grand, and they offer themselves for worship by ordinary people searching for a suitable object of devotion" I know from personal experience that "worshiping" a celebrity can be helpful. In tough times, when even your religious beliefs aren't material enough, it's helpful to have something/someone to look up to and model yourself after, or to just have an intriguing distraction. I think in the 1920s the idea of worshiping celebrities was more beneficial than hurtful, but today I feel like it's not the same. In general, we don't just look up to one person and admire them, but we are drowning in stories and rumors and photographs of people. Looking up to a celebrity or two is healthy, but an obsession with reading every People magazine in existence is not.
    Jennifer G

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  2. Everything comes in a package, with good and bad. The author seems to dislike the high positions of the celebrity and how everyone doesn’t receive same opportunity as these celebrities. I do agree with the author and how the film industry has gone beyond the regular entertainment aspect. “There is a quality of self-invention to their rise … The person evolves into a persona, then a brand, then an empire, with the business imperative of grow or die — a process of expansion and commodification that transgresses boundaries by substituting celebrity for institutions.” But then we also have to acknowledge that these people probably struggled to get to this position and the media too has their eyes glued to their personal lives. Also, the celebrities have their own personal life beyond their movie or tv serie character. They are allowed to make progress in any legal way possible. Maybe they take advantage of their positions and relations but we really can’t stop them. Maybe a positive aspect can be that this could help the economy.The celebrities opening new organizations or businesses can develop jobs and possible boost the sinking economy. However, it is upsetting that these celebrities have more chances and opportunities than the regular average people like us. But most of these celebrities are well liked, cherishes, loved, admired, respected and idealized by the regular citizens. So, in this case the celebrities need to be more concerned about their audience and consider them while taking public decisions.
    ~Shilpa R Period 3

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  3. It's interesting to think about the role celebrities play in our society. Although the article makes it clear that celebrities are much different now compared to the 1920's and the "Great Gatsby" era, I think that the reasons for the public to worship these people have not changed. The article states, "The obsession with celebrities goes far beyond supermarket tabloids, gossip Web sites and reality TV. It obliterates old distinctions between high and low culture, serious and trivial endeavors, profit making and philanthropy, leading to the phenomenon of being famous for being famous." I think that the way society views these people and the way celebrities react to the fame has always been the same. Celebrities always seem to end up being famous for being famous. We can look at older celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin and newer celebrities such as the Kardashian family, and most people would just know Chaplin and the Kardashians for being famous instead of any of their actual accomplishments. The article later states, "Their superficial diversity dangles before us the myth that in America, anything is possible — even as the American dream quietly dies, a victim of the calcification of a class system that is nearly hereditary." This cycle will never change. Whether we like it or not, society craves these people to look up to. It is human nature, and ever since this idea of celebrities started in the 1920's, we should not expect it to stop.
    Claire Paterson
    Class 3

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  4. Being a celebrity has greatly evolved over the past century. During the "roaring 20s" and during the time of The Great Gatsby, there were only a few well known celebrities. These celebrities tended to be the most famous movie stars at the time, but now it has changed. There are business celebrities now, like Steve Jobs, there are local celebrities, celebrity athletes, etc. "Our age is lousy with celebrities. They can be found in every sector of society, including ones that seem less than glamorous". It is also common now for people just to know that someone is famous but that's it, they don't know how they came to be this way. Many of these celebrities work hard to accomplish everything that they have, and this seems to be forgotten by people. Many people also tend to criticize celebrities because they have too much money and are selfish, but the truth is, most well know celebrities have organizations that they donate to or organizations of their own where they raise money to help the community. To be a celebrity in today's world is much different than that of the 20s and people criticize celebrities for what they do now, but that's just the behavior that should be expected from such high profile people.

    Kevin C.
    Period 3

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  5. In class this week we talked about how Gatsby puts the rich on a pedestal and forgets about the rest of society. This article takes the "rest" into consideration. The author of this article describes the way celebrities used to be treated in the 20's and how they are now. It was interesting that back then, " in times of widespread opportunity, the distance between gods and mortals closes, the monuments shrink closer to human size and the centrality of celebrities in the culture recedes. " This made it seem that celebrities back then were almost more human than they are now. Granted they didnt have instagrams and twitters to make you feel connected to them at all times but what they did have was the ability to make you feel that with hard work you could become one of them. Now we have fandoms, fangirling, celebrity crushes, celebrity stalking, and much much more that makes celebrities almost non human. The author wrote, "We know our stars aren’t inviting us to think we can be just like them. Their success is based on leaving the rest of us behind." This sentence put how many feel about their favorite celebs into words. They are becoming richer and more famous and we are mere onlookers just forever peering into their lives from the outside.
    Elena Muniz
    Period 3

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  6. In think in the times of the 1920's, celebrities came across as being a member of a higher social class rather than really doing many extraordinary things. They were people who came across wealth in their lifetime whether they earned it or inherited it through ancestors. In current times, celebrities are usually know for a variety of accomplishments such as being an Olympic athlete, or creating a website like Facebook. Of course you have to exclude the few celebrities that are known for their family lives from reality T.V who didn't earn their stardom (The Kardashian's). Being a celebrity comes with having money or fame, and in the article it states, " They are as intimate as they are grand, and they offer themselves for worship by ordinary people searching for a suitable object of devotion. " This quote does prove that people are devoted to celebrities and feed off their lives and it is mostly because of the need and desire that people have to be like those they see from a distance. Celebrities represent the American dream and hope similar to Gatsby where others look up to them envious of their lavish lifestyle, wishing they could live the same way.
    Alyssa Case
    Period 3

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  7. I think it's really interesting how we idolize other people simply because of their amount of money or the fact that they're "untouchable". On one side, I think it's fine to praise other peoples' high accomplishments, but obsessing over celebrities isn't always beneficial for a person. This is because becoming obsessed with someone isn't healthy. As stated in the article "Celebrating Inequality", celebrities "offer themselves for worship by ordinary people searching for a suitable object of devotion". I believe this statement can justify someone looking up to a celebrity because not all of us have something or someone to look up to.
    Gabby White
    Period 3

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  8. I hate the idea of celebrities because it leads to nothing good. There is no benefit to idolizing attractive people who do nothing all day. Kim Kardashain is famous because of a porn video. The woman is dumber than stump and does nothing. She is the Miss Baker and our society is Nick; lying around doing nothing and being just being admired. Sure some people deserve to get national attention for doing important things for society, but talking about how rich someone is and what they can afford is stupid. As well as it being a waste of time it does have actual problems with it. as it said in the article, "The celebrity monuments of our age have grown so huge that they dwarf the aspirations of ordinary people, who are asked to yield their dreams to the gods." People look up to these people and feel bad about themselves because they will never amount to them. Celebrities have created the standard that people should be skinny and act certain way when in reality, its not true. Hundreds of years ago, fat was the more attractive feature, but what is perceived as attractive changes over time. Glorying these fake, unrealistic people a detriment to the well being of our society.

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  9. Although celebrities change and evolve over time, this article shows how the idea of a higher class to look up to is necessary in our culture. In the 20's Gatsby takes on this role of the wealthy and extravagant and all those around him admire his lavish lifestyles and parties. The article says, "They dominate the landscape, like giant monuments to aspiration, fulfillment and overreach. They are as intimate as they are grand, and they offer themselves for worship by ordinary people searching for a suitable object of devotion." I think that celebrities can bring positive influence into our society as those we can admire and strive to be. Celebrities can mean different things to different people. An Olympic medalist, a singer, or dancer. They can inspire us to be our best selves. In the case of Gatsby, the culture wanted more than just fame and talent. Gatsby shows us the ideal celebrity in the 20's, a man with class, wealth, and mystery.

    Eleanor Hall
    Period 3

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  10. There are good and bad aspects to celebrities. Some celebrities are famous for nothing or only famous because of their parents. As many people have said above the kardashians only gained their fame because of their father who was the lawyer who represented oj simpson. Also kim is only famous because of her porn tape. On the other hand there are celebrities who do good and donate a lot of their money to organizations. Also brad pitt and angelina adopted a lot of children from poor countries. There are also celebrities that gained their fame from working hard, such as Olympians. These people have worked all their lives to get to their goal and the fame jsut comes with it. In the 20's the fame was if you were wealthy and had class. In the article it says, "They dominate the landscape, like giant monuments to aspiration, fulfillment and overreach. They are as intimate as they are grand, and they offer themselves for worship by ordinary people searching for a suitable object by devotion."
    Michaela S
    period 3

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  11. Celebrities are the receiver of nationwide worship. They worked their entire lives to get where they are, and their talent entertains the entire country. However, i believe they receive too much praise for what they are. People view these entertainers as heroes. But they are not. Heroes are those who serve our country, firefighters, policemen. The real heroes don't need to make millions of dollars to know how important they are. Celebrities rather simply take pride in their worship. " They are as intimate as they are grand, and they offer themselves for worship by ordinary people searching for a suitable object of devotion. " Look at someone like Kim Kardashian. She is famous for being famous. Why does she deserve our worship?
    Jared P Period 3

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  12. Celebrities are like candy, we like to eat them up. Nam. We like to see everything that is going on in their lives despite the fact that it affects us in no way shape or form. We like to keep up with all of their accomplishments, and talk about them as if they are our own. We take pride in what celebrities accomplish despite it not having any correlation to our lives. They set superficial goals that ordinary people dream of achieving, and feel depressed because they are such ridiculous dreams to look to achieve. It makes us feel as though we are insignificant and lesser beings than these celebrities we see as gods."The celebrity monuments of our age have grown so huge that they dwarf the aspirations of ordinary people, who are asked to yield their dreams to the gods." Celebrities simply blow our perception out of proportion and contort our ability to effectively apply our dreams
    Mike B per 3

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  13. Celebrity status has greatly increased over time as more celebrities began to emerge and we began to care for them more, and as the invention of paparazzi was created. I don't believe that we actually care for them or for their lives, even though we seem to materialize a personal connection to the celebrity, as it's just something that we want so that we ourselves are celebrities as well. Infatuation is confused for lust to the individual or jealousy as we would rather live in their skin that our own, which ties into modern insecurity. What we as humans want is to know every detail of their lives (through some obscure stalker way) because of our 'infatuation.' We often forget that they are human and make mistakes or succumb to the same stuff that we would. This article relates to The Great Gatsby in that many rumours spread about Gatsby because of his fame, everyone goes to his parties even though they don't know him, and many act like they know him personally. The name Gatsby, rather than the actual person, is glorified and then becomes a household name. I don't see us ever turning back and things like the paparazzi dying (literally) to get a shot of a celebrity will only get worse as everyone wishes the worst onto celebrities.
    Megan Glynn
    Period 3

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  14. The 1920s marked the beginning of celebrity worship. And since that time we as a society have continued to place importance on the lives of these people that have been deemed famous. We hold these people up to a certain prestige and admire their successes and luxurious lifestyles.In Gatsby's case, he is admired by many for the parties he throws and the extravagant life he lives. I believe that caring about and worshiping people that you'll never encounter in your life is very meaningless and a waste of time."[Obsession with celebrities] obliterates old distinctions between high and low culture, serious and trivial endeavors, profit making and philanthropy, leading to the phenomenon of being famous for being famous." The concept of being famous for being famous is a very alarming one, the fact that someone can gain prestige and be in the public eye, for not doing anything important or contributing to society in anyway is a very scary reality.
    Justin Campos
    Period 3

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  15. The status and importance of celebrities seems to have increased as time has went on. In our times, celebrities seems to rule the world. We watch their every move - literally. The paparazzi follows them and even waits for them outside of their house. There seems to be no end. We read about them online and see what they have to say on social media. This was not possible back in the 20s, the technology did not even allow it. "The obsession with celebrities goes far beyond supermarket tabloids, gossip Web sites and reality TV." We make "fandoms" over these people and the world becomes obsessed..and sometimes these people don't even have talents. They are literally "famous for being famous" and the world often takes that too far.

    Emma S
    Period 3

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  17. The over-glorification of average humans seems to have significantly increased over time (or at least since the twenties). The idea of a celebrity today is incredibly different than it was ninety-or-so years ago. During that time it was mainly movie stars and famous singers who were idolized, where today, we idolize people of all different types. As the article states, “Our age is lousy with celebrities. They can be found in every sector of society, including ones that seem less than glamorous.” We admire chefs, journalists, conspiracy theorists, and worst of all, people who created a show based on awful jobs in America: “Dirty Jobs” staring Mike Rowe. Idealizing a celebrity definitely has some plus sides to it, so long as you choose the right person.
    Speaking from personal experience, admiring a celebrity is both a good thing and a bad thing. In one aspect, it can be so consuming that it actually prevents you from having a life of your own, but at the same time, it can lead you to incredible experiences you wouldn’t have had otherwise. Revering a singer or a famous individual like Ghandi is one thing, but when you start to practically stalk someone like Lindsey Lohan or Amanda Bynes and you base your life off of theirs, that’s when things become a little iffy.
    Generally speaking, I believing admiring a celebrity on a healthy level is beneficial. As far as the glorification of people in various fields not in television or film, I see nothing wrong with that. Everyone has a different passion, and having someone they can look up to in that field could really help them reach their own goals.

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  18. A lot of people today are materialistic and obsessed with the media and celebrities. Today young teenagers worship celebrities like they are God but there are also paparazzi's who constantly stalk their personal life. I can not imagine living a life where every action or mistake that I made would be reported publicly. This is why teen gossip magazines, and E! news are so popular. "The celebrity monuments of our age have grown so huge that they dwarf the aspirations of ordinary people, who are asked to yield their dreams to the gods: to flash their favorite singer’s corporate logo at concerts, to pour open their lives (and data) on Facebook, to adopt Apple as a lifestyle." Celebrities and the media has a huge impact and influence on today's generation from the clothes we wear to the songs we listen to. It seems as though there is a lot of negative influence in the music industry where famous celebs glamorize smoking, drinking, having sex, and partying. These celebs have so much power over the public, yet they do not use their powers in a positive way. I never understood why people really are obsessed with celebrities that they do not personally know or have interacted with. It seems ridiculous me that fans are willing to pay hundreds and thousands of dollars to meet a celebrity, like Justin Bieber or One Direction.
    Reitsuma

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  19. i think the difference between the 20's and today is what celebrities are defined as, and the impact that they have on the population. Today, it takes less to become famous, it takes less drive less hard work; it's almost chance that someone who can't really sing gets discovered on YouTube and makes his/her way to the top without the one trait that was what made them "famous." As a result, the type of people we are admiring lack all the characteristics of what, like in the 20's, made people become famous; hard work, true talent, dedication, and maturity. So maybe celebrities aren't such a bad thing, but thats when we are admiring actual celebrities and not people who made it to the top and now act childish and irresponsible because society has placed them so high up socially, and they have no true morals to keep them grounded. There are examples of celebrities today who do represent the true ideal of a famous person however, so not all hope is lost that a celebrity can be redefined as someone we admire in a positive way.
    Cara Broughal
    period 3

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