Consequences of Celebrity Obsession

Consequences of Celebrity Obsession Sewon Chu Celebrity/Media Addiction In this world we live in, there are over seven billion people with many different dreams and ambitions. Some are satisfied with living in a small village with close relationship with just about everyone living in that village. Some are content to live the fast-paced life of the metropolis, where millions of people carry on their daily lives. Then there are some people who seek fame through acting, singing, beauty or their hard work and have their faces all over the media: celebrities. Celebrity is defined as not only those who sing, dance, and act but just famous or well-known person according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary.[1] Celebrities exist in all parts of the globe because they are essential needs to human life called entertainment. Entertainment is a necessity to human life because it brings joy, happiness and different sorts of positive feelings. However, it has expanded from just pure entertainment into something more serious recently. Now, the public is starting to become he avily interested in the daily personal lives of these celebrities because of the media, which has led to many people becoming obsessed with the lives of celebrities. People are obsessed with celebrities now more than ever because the obsession has become an integral part of our daily lives that results from psychological and social reasons. According to the Daily Banter, one of the reasons why people are obsessed with celebrities is because our brains think that the leaders or creative innovators should be respected.[2] Celebrities can become inspirations to the future generations who aim to become acknowledged for their hard work one day in fields that may be very difficult to become successful in. People are able to form a bond in their minds with their favorite public figure through the assimilation of the celebrity’s characteristics and have positive emotions when they think about that celebrity.[3] Granted, some of the actions by celebrities are not the actions leaders or innovators should be doing, such as drug usage, but the public is interested in all aspects of a celebrity’s life because of the media coverage. When a celebrity couple like for an example artists Beyoncà © Knowles and Jay-Z has a child, the news of the birth was all over social networks, newspapers, T.V., and internet news. However , if someone who was just an ordinary couple were to give birth to a child, only their friends and families will know about the good news. As a result, because the celebrity couple will have media exposure of their child’s birth, they are considered â€Å"more special† than the ordinary couple even though they are doing the same thing: giving birth to a child, which leads to other ordinary people to pay attention to the news of the celebrity couple. The fact that media is exposing these news about celebrities makes ordinary people have this notion that the celebrity is special which leads to the feeling of envy and the need to make those celebrities their personal role models. Also, when the media shows the celebrities, the celebrity tends to live the luxurious life. They wear nice and fashionable clothes that are sometimes custom-made, wear exquisite jewelry, drive or hire a driver that drives their exotic cars, drink expensive alcohol. This result in people wanting c elebrities as their role models because with their talent and fortune they were able to make these purchases. Having a celebrity for a role model can be positive because role models help people aspire to become better and grow as a human being. Celebrity admiration can have an influence on other people. For an example, when celebrities donate money to charity and be philanthropic to others or win awards for their hard work, it aspire people to become the same better person. One good example was how many well-known people such as Bill Gates, Whoopi Goldberg, Matt Damon, Will Smith, Kevin Hart, Anne Hathaway and Benedict Cumberbatch took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which served as a cause to raise awareness of Lou Gehrig’s disease. Consequently, this led to many people to participate as well. But certainly celebrity influence can’t only be positive. While the ALS Bucket Challenge may have succeeded in raising awareness to people and it was for a good cause, many people did it without knowing what ALS even is, also they forget the fact that there are parts of the world th at has little to no access to fresh/clean water. So while the ALS Bucket Challenge has raised awareness for a disease, in a sense, it has left people less aware of the water shortage issue in other countries. Also, this shows just how much celebrities can influence ordinary people in a negative way. They forget that they’re wasting water because famous people were doing it which means that in some cases people will be blinded and wouldn’t be able to differentiate whether what their role model celebrity is doing is the right thing or not. For an example, celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus both have a massive fan base. When they were younger than they were now, they had an innocent image as well as their talent that attracted so many fans. However, now that some years have passed since they debuted, it seems as though their image has become rather negative. There are YouTube videos that show Justin Bieber trying to fight a reporter and also he was charged with DUI (driving under the influence) in Florida, and Miley Cyrus has made some controversial music videos and statements. The reason why this is a major problem is that media exposure to these negative characteristics mixed with obsession about these celebrities will make people think that what they are doing is reasonable and in turn, result in people imitating those celebrities. Celebrities have so much influence now that even the governor of California from 2003 to 2011 was none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger[4], who is an immigrant from Austria. Before Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan was also a celebrity turned governor, and he went further as to become a U.S. president. The point is not if these two men were the right choice but the point is that it seems as though celebrity influence has a greater power than people realize. Psychologist James Houran has conducted a survey of more than 600 people and has discovered a psychiatric condition: celebrity worship syndrome.[5] According to the survey, one out of three Americans and British has it to a certain degree that the groups were divided into three different categories: entertainment social, casual stargazing; intense personal, feeling a connection with a celebrity; borderline pathological, similar to a stalker. He believes that the numbers will intensify with the advancement of technology such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media which allows easier access to information worldwide. People will â€Å"share†, â€Å"like†, â€Å"tag†, â€Å"retweet† videos or articles about celebrities and whoever is their social network friend or follower will have access to that celebrity news. Technology has indeed become an important factor as to why people are becoming more and more obsessed with celebrities. Today, the ac cess to media is easier than ever before; there are magazines solely dedicated to stories about the latest celebrity gossip, known as tabloids. Other than that, there are various social network sources as mentioned before such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media that can provide the latest update on celebrity news. Also, TV news channels cover celebrity gossip when there are other important news stories to be discussed. It has become a trend nowadays to know the basic knowledge of celebrity gossip as Daniel Kruger, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Michigan points out, â€Å"Knowing what is going on with high-status individuals, you’d be better able to navigate the social scene.†[6] If a person does not know the latest news of a certain celebrity, that person can possibly be socially excluded from a conversation or a group because they lack the information. They do not want to feel like an outcast from their group of people so even if they do not care about celebrity gossip, some are forced to know all of the juicy gossip. Socially, people want to be fit in and have a sense of belonging in a community. As a result, people will spend more time watching the latest celebrity gossip instead of learning something new or better their lives in some way because they might believe that knowing the latest gossip is in fact bettering them because of the social benefits of fitting in. Today’s social standards of beauty has also become a poisonous because every year it seems as though those standards are becoming higher as more and more beautiful and handsome models become the faces of the entertainment industry. This leads to many young people to resort to plastic surgery because they believe that their natural face is unfit for the standard of society as Anisha Abraham and Diana Zuckerman points out in their article, Adolescents, Celebrity Worship, and Cosmetic Surgery: â€Å"Cosmetic procedures have become pervasive, advertised in the mass media, and the subject of countless TV programs, such as Dr. 90210 (created in the United States but internationally known). The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery estimates that the number of children less than 18 years of age undergoing cosmetic surgery procedures by their members has ranged from 33,000 to 65,000 annually in the past 10 years, with nonsurgical cosmetic procedures ranging from 91,000 to 190,000 per year[7]† As bad as celebrity obsession might sound, it can actually be helpful for people with social difficulties. Celebrities now can interact with their fans via social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and have a one-sided relationship with them. While it does sound like an unhealthy relationship, studies show that it is quite the opposite. There was a study conducted in 2008 by University of Buffalo researchers who discovered that â€Å"celebrity worship† helps people with self-esteem issues or fears or rejections by allowing them to have one-sided bond with a celebrity. Another study involved 348 undergraduate students completing a self-esteem questionnaire, writing an open-ended essay about their favorite celebrity, and then completing the questionnaire again. The results showed that people who initially scored low on the self-esteem, after completing the essay scored much higher the second time.[8] This shows that one-sided relationships with these celebrities fi ll the void of loneliness to those who have low self-esteem, and to those who do not have many real friends. These one-sided relationships can possibly help them become more social to other people as well. Celebrity obsession should not be dismissed completely because the celebrities can become positive role models for the growth of people and the obsession can also assist people with social difficulties. However, it is evident that people are becoming more and more obsessed with media now than ever before and it is becoming a major problem. With the advancement of media technology, the accessibility of celebrity news is easier than ever before. Psychologically, our brains are programmed to instinctively respect or idolize someone who seems to be of a higher class and since celebrities attract attention we unconsciously believe they are of a higher class, which leads to celebrities having a major influence in people as well as people following the way celebrities act in their personal life. The fact that nowadays celebrity gossip is a necessity to be fit in is also another negative aspect of celebrity obsession, which leads to using cosmetic surgeries as an option. Bibliography Abraham, Anisha and Diana Zuckerman, â€Å"Adolescents, Celebrity Worship, and Cosmetic Surgery† Journal of Adolescent Health, November 2011,  www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X11003028 Furst, Jessica. â€Å"Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities? Our DNA Provides a Clue.† Daily Banter, June 27th 2013,  http://thedailybanter.com/2013/06/why-are-we-obsessed-with-celebrities-our-dna-provides-a-clue/ Gray, Keturah. â€Å"Celebrity Worship Syndrome Abounds.† ABC News, September 23rd, http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=101029 Park, Alice. â€Å"Celebrity Worship: Good for Your Health?† TIME Health Family, September 15th 2008, http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1841093,00.html Sifferlin, Alexandra. â€Å"Oscar Fixation: Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities?† TIME Health Family, February 27th 2012, http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/27/oscar-fixation-why-are-we-obsessed-with-celebrities/ Wikipedia Contributors, â€Å"List of Governors of California.† Wikipedia, November 6th 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_California [1] Merriam-webster.com. Celebrity Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. N. p., 2014 [2] Jessica Furst, â€Å"Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities? Our DNA Provides a Clue,† Daily Banter, June 27th 2013 [3] Alexandra Sifferlin, â€Å"Oscar Fixation: Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities?,† TIME Health Family, February 27th 2012 [4] Wikipedia Contributors, â€Å"List of Governors of California.† Wikipedia, November 6th 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_California [5] Keturah Gray, â€Å"Celebrity Worship Syndrome Abounds†, ABC News, September 23rd, http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=101029 [6] Alexandra Sifferlin, â€Å"Oscar Fixation: Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities?† TIME Health Family, February 27th 2012, http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/27/oscar-fixation-why-are-we-obsessed-with-celebrities/ [7] Anisha Abraham and Diana Zuckerman, â€Å"Adolescents, Celebrity Worship, and Cosmetic Surgery† Journal of Adolescent Health, November 2011, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X11003028 [8] Alice Park, â€Å"Celebrity Worship: Good for Your Health?† TIME Health Family, September 15th 2008, http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1841093,00.html

Meaning of Life and Happiness Essay

I do not think that there is a single person in the world who can say that knows what happiness actually is and, more importantly, that knows how to achieve it. We sometimes get the glimpse of pure happiness but those moments are so rare and so intense that we only recognise them too late. Each of us understands this feeling in a different way†¦I, for instance, see it as the one that can make you feel that there is no worry in life and nothing and nobody can hurt you anymore. For me, it is when you feel like you can do anything and forget about the past, the future, just enjoying the mere present. In my case, it is one of two feelings that can make you cry with all your heart†¦because it is too much for you to express in plain words or pointless gestures. â€Å"Tears are words that the heart can’t express† a wise man once said and could have never said it better, as happiness is that joy which is so strong that sometimes even hurts. However, I never remember the recipe for happiness and even if I did I do not think it would work again because one of its components is also hazard. Still, this does nt make me stop searching for it and devote it everything I do, I am and I achieve. Likewise, each person I’ve ever met, consciously or not, did the same†¦we want to get something, to become someone. Why? Not because that would make us feel miserable, but fulfilled and maybe a little bit more: happy. Hence, I strongly believe that happiness is the main purpose of our lives, the whole aim of our ephemeral existence. We are born happy and we want to die the same; this is the true ideal that we all crave for reaching. Money, wealth, knowledge mean nothing, without someone who cares about what you have achieved. Human beings, whether they like admitting it or not, need other human beings to share their secrets with, to share their joy or sorrow; as genuine joy can only become happiness if there is another person by your side. In other words, happiness is, in my opinion, the actual meaning of life; and life seems so complicated especially because we seldom get to its core, we almost never get to know what happiness feels like†¦and afterwards all that remains is an unclear memory of the moment and a wish of feeling it again.

Analysis and Problems of Global Communications

The pending expansion of Global Communications into the international arena has significant implications, both positive and negative, for the corporation. Although the company is going through a difficult time at the present, with stock depreciations, a lack of innovation, and pending layoffs, the potential for growth and for increased profitability with the new direction chosen by the company's executives is very real. If Global Communications can address the challenges immediately facing it, take advantage of the opportunities which are available, and at the same time balance the needs of competing groups of stakeholders, it can realize several of its long-term goals as outlined later in this paper. Diminishing returns across the entire telecommunications industry have negatively affected the stock and profitability of Global Communications. Excessive amounts of competition from companies worldwide have diluted the market as well as offered a wide range of features that Global Communications does not currently provide. Small providers offer specialized services, and larger multinationals offer lower prices and more competitive service choices. Global Communications has chosen to address this problem by simultaneously attempting to cut costs while expanding internationally; their primary method of achieving these immediate goals is through closing some domestic call centers and opening new centers overseas. The employees' union has obvious problems with this strategy of layoffs and outsourcing, and has questioned Global Communications' loyalty to its workers. The company faces significant problems, both fiscally and intangible issues such as employee loyalty. The first of these issues is the declining price of Global Communications stock, presumably due to the increased amount of competition in the field. Such a decline in overall profitability is the most pressing problem facing the company; however, it is also the broadest in that several more specific problems contribute to this overall issue. One of the contributing factors is the need for new services and innovations in research and development. Such innovations require capital and financial resources, which relates to the problem of declining confidence among stockholders, who are wondering if they industry can recover from the competitive situation in which it currently finds itself. The problem of stockholder confidence therefore contributes to the lack of funds available for innovations and research, meaning that the company must find a way to increase profits without depending on stockholder confidence. The initial attempt to address these financial issues, outsourcing many jobs to Ireland and India, has also created more problems for Global. The employee union feels betrayed and is threatening legal action regarding the layoffs. Additionally, the public relations issue regarding this outsourcing is an important one for Global to address in order to prevent a public backlash in response to the outsourcing and union-relations issues. Despite the many problems facing Global, several opportunities exist for the company to grow and become as profitable as it was during the previous era. There is an immediate opportunity available to lower the costs of labor facing the company by utilizing the outsourcing plan and the labor available overseas. Such an action will free up company resources to be spent on research and development of new services and products, which will rebuild the base of Global Communications customers through the many services offered. Additionally, such an expansion in services will increase the market share for Global among small business owners, one of the company's overall goals, and offer the opportunity to reinforce a public perception of Global as one of the leaders in telecommunications technology. Besides these profitability issues, there is an opportunity to establish new norms regarding the union and employee relations within Global. Perhaps an established plan of communication or route of information dissemination can be created, and career counseling and training could be offered for the employees who were laid off, helping re-establish the public and in-company perception of Global. The most obvious opportunity for Global is also the broadest; the chance for the company to grow and return to previous years' profitability is one that exists in the current atmosphere of change. Global leaders must take advantage of the many opportunities to change the company, its relationships, and its products and technology as soon as possible. Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas There are several groups of stakeholders in this discussion; from the individual stockholders to the union members to the highest executives, the different groups all have different priorities in the Global restructuring. Stockholders have at heart the long-term profitability and growth of the company, similar to the priority of global executives to see the company grow and profit overall. Other groups, notably the employees and union representatives, have as their first priority the job security and salary of employees as their first priority; the relationship with management and the pending layoffs are more important to these groups than profitability or growth. Finally, the executives in the U. S. ave more concern over these job cuts than do the global executives, since they are the ones who will be most adversely affected by the layoffs and outsourcing. The struggle between these groups to have their own needs prioritized represents an ethical dilemma for Global; the negative affects of the layoffs must be weighed against the overall survival of the company; the detriment to individual employees and public perception must be weighed against continuing Global's position as an innovator and industry leader. Global Communications and the employees' union can both benefit from the increased profitability which will happen as a result of the outsourcing and shift in services offered; in the long-term, both groups can work to create benefit and profit for individual stockholders as well as company executives and management. This long-term benefit will additionally give Global employees greater job security. The progress of Global toward the situations possible by the many opportunities available to it can be measured through several objective methods. One that is mentioned in the 3/2/04 memo is a concrete goal of reducing costs by 40%. Such a goal will naturally benefit the company based on the reduction of cost and increase of profits. Additionally, a concrete goal to resolve the issues with the employees' union without legal or governmental action would be an excellent way to re-establish the relationship between the company and the union. Another measurable goal would be to return the stock price to a certain level, for example, that of the previously profitably $28/share. Global Communications faces some immediate and important problems, such as decreased profitability, decreased stockholder confidence, pending layoffs and the public-relations issues which accompany them, and increased competition within the telecommunications industry which requires new innovations and development. Despite these immediate problems, there are many opportunities for Global to benefit from its current situation; it can take advantage of the chance to reduce costs by outsourcing and then increase research and development with those funds; it can re-negotiate the relationship with its employees' union to a more beneficial one for both parties; and it can remodel itself as a modern, cutting-edge competitor in the field of telecommunications. Such opportunities can benefit all stakeholders in Global, from the individual stockholders to employees to global executives, by strengthening the financial and community/social situations of the company. Although the implementation of these changes may be uncomfortable at times and even immediately painful for several groups (the employees' union, for example), the overall benefit for everyone involved must be kept in mind. Long-term goals can be used to track the company's progress toward achieving its end goal of returning to an innovating, profitable organization

American Imperialism Then and Now Diffusion of the...

The imperialist spirit of the United States was inherited from England after the U.S. broke away from its mother country in 1775. The young country wanted to spread its ways of living across its landscape, creating defined boarders on both sides that separated it from its English predecessors. Thus America’s New Frontier was born. America built up its imperialistic nature throughout the 19th century and on into the 20th century, flexing its muscles and establishing itself as a new world superpower. The modern United States no longer finds land to claim, but instead is involved with a Cultural Imperialism, which has affected how other countries around the world feel about the United States. Americas need to find a new frontier has long†¦show more content†¦America also fights wars in order to spread democracy to other countries. A democratic republic form of government does not make the United States unique; many countries have republics, democracies, or both. However the United States is unique because of how much stress it puts into trying to spread the ideas of a democratic government to foreign countries around the world. Americans generally have feelings of exceptionalism from the rest of the world. This was especially prevalent during the late 19th and 20th centuries when the United States had completed its growth from coast to coast, and civilization and industry were booming. Patriotic pride is important to the growth and prosperity of a country because it provides a positive outlook on the future. Senator Albert Beveridge of Ohio declared in a speech to Congress that America was â€Å"[God’s] chosen people†¦to lead in the regeneration of the world† (Beveridge 1). This type of radical nationalism can lead to American imperialism simply because the American imperialists believe they have a right to colonize other nations. Rahul Varma, a Canadian playwright and essayist for the Playwrights Guild of Canada, wrote an article about the damaging effects of globalization. He writes that globalization is changing world policy and cultures into a monoculture not unlike that of the United States. The American culture, he continues, which the other unique cultures may fall victim to is one of rapidShow MoreRelatedUnderstanding the Convergence of Media Systems and Political Communication in the U.S. and Western Europe1054 Words   |  5 PagesCommunication in the U.S. and Western Europe A powerful trend is clearly underway in the direction of greater similarity in the way the public sphere is structured across the world. In their products, in their professional practices and cultures, in their systems of relationships with other political and social institutions, media systems across the world are becoming increasingly alike. 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