Celebrity Culture: Real vs. Manufactured Impact
Celebrity culture is characterized by a pervasive preoccupation with famous persons and an extravagant value attached to the lives of public figures whose actual accomplishments may be limited, but whose visibility is extensive.
I graduated with degrees in the social services/psychology field and went out into the current social systems in America thinking I was gonna change the world. The only thing that changed was my worldview. I quickly saw that these systems cared about money and numbers over souls and that no matter how hard I worked, I would never change the system, it needed to be dismantled and a new one dreamed up and created. I also quickly realized that the amount of money I was being paid to be an advocate for the people and do some of the most heartbreaking and IMPORTANT work in the trenches was laughable. I became a waitress part time on the weekends working doubles to make ends meet while I was a social worker on the weekdays. I noticed that if I quit my job as a social worker and waitressed full time, I would have been making A LOT more money. It seemed that in our society, jobs that utilized a woman’s beauty and sexuality rather than her mind and soul were MUCH more profitable. This says a lot as to the things, people and professions that we VALUE.
When META Verified became a thing, I remember people were in an uproar because “SOME PEOPLE” worked “HARD” for their blue checks and now “REGULAR” people can buy them? Let’s be honest, most social media users who were verified originally were due to several viral funny videos, promoting products via brand deals and makeup tutorials. Building a platform is hard work, and they did earn their notoriety. The problem comes in when people like social workers, authors, activists, healthcare workers, educators and creators who are published, have scholarly research articles out there, who work tirelessly to change politics and their communities daily and have huge impacts on the culture are not seen as worthy to be “verified” due to their smaller number of followers or smaller amount of money.
It’s highly problematic to assume that someone is of lesser value due to numbers and not impact. It’s equally as problematic to assume someone’s importance due to those same things. They do not always correlate. If we are being honest, the educator who has created her own curriculum, series of books, after school programs and who is in the process of creating a charter school in the hood to break generational curses should be seen as someone who needs press/protection and be verified more than the influencer who dances and places a 10% off code in their captions. But in this society, that influencer is seen as more valuable and worthy of “fame” somehow?
In the world of social media, it is now possible to utilize its tools to create your own platform and business structure. It is now possible to flip the current social structure on its head and no longer only value those at the top because they are seen and have more money, but to truly look to connect with those who are relatable and who are making a profound impact in their industries. It seems that the people protecting their “exclusivity” and “notoriety” the most and gatekeeping it, are the ones who know that their manufactured importance doesn’t really exist.
I saw a quote from a journalist that questioned where the true culture shift in hip hop would come from. She asked would the shift come from a hip hop artist or would it come from the words, questions, critiques and pen of a writer/journalist who loves the culture. She magnified the value, importance and true impact that writers have in shaping the culture that seems to only focus on the celebrities. I feel that it was a profound question and something to think about and begin to recognize…
In this celebrity culture where we elevate those who are aesthetically beautiful, have lot’s of material possessions, are close to celebrities who we deem admirable and whose numbers look impressive to us…. we may want to begin to question what true value and impact really looks like. Does it lie in numbers and aesthetics or does it lie somewhere deeper and less easy to manufacture.
