Note:
America and the world get to know some individuals by virtue of their status as victims. Celebrity bestowed by "victimhood" can happen in a variety of ways.
Some victims enter our public consciousness due to the hurtful acts of others; other victimhood is self-inflicted. Some people become well known victims out of carlessness, accident, or circumstances. Others are victims of war, terrorism, racism, or political correctness.
Whatever the case, most celebrity victims are unintentional celebrities, and many no doubt would have preferred their privacy to the celebrity into which they were suddenly thrust. Ah, but the media love a good, bankrollable victim...
Never mind that beauty pageants, like modeling shows, are among the very silliest events that we Americans are expected to watch. Beautiful girls, many of them surgically enhanced, strut and wriggle their way to minor celebrity, and the saddest part of pageants is the question and answer portion, which usually involves a great deal of simpering.
Nevertheless,at the Miss USA pageant in 2009, Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean, became the victim of political correctness run amuck.
Contest judge Perez Hilton asked Prejean if all U.S. states should legalize same-sex marriage. She waffled prettily at first, but finally said that to her, marriage was an institution for a man and a woman.
Perez is gay. Prejean is an evangelical Christian. And never the twain did mix.
Hilton called her a dumb bitch online and indicated that her answer had cost her the Miss USA title.
Soon thereafter, topless photos of Prejean surfaced on the Internet. Her reaction was that the shots were taken back when she was young and foolish. Still, the racy photos did not seem to square well with her conservative old-time religion.
The Great Comb-over, Donald Trump, owner of both pageants, ruled that Prejean would remain first runner-up for Miss USA and that she could retain her Miss California crown. Trump noted that President Barack Obama had expressed pretty much the same opinion on same-sex marriage as did Prejean.
In protest to Trump's handling of the matter, pageant director Shanna Moakler, resigned. She had been Miss USA 1995. My my.
About this Blog
"In the future everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes." So said the bleached-out, late lamented artist Andy Warhol. Having lived and worked in New York City, Warhol came to fully grasp the hold celebrity has on us. In this very famous sentence, he meant to point out that in a culture fixated on fame, many people will suddenly flash brightly onto the public screen, then--poof--will just as quickly disappear from public view--like shooting stars. Other individuals derive their celebrity from one stellar accomplishment (one hit song, one iconic role, etc.) that they never again match.
This blog is devoted to the one part of our celebrity culture that no one has written much about: temporary/one-shot celebrities.
The pace of modern life has quickened, and now we hear people speaking of someone's 15 seconds of fame. These "celebrities with a lower-case c" who will appear in this blog sometimes come to us from the world of entertainment, sometimes from the world of news. All are fascinating.
The need of our communications media for a continual stream of new material assures that we will have no end of colorful people who go quickly, where celebrity is concerned, from zero to hero (or villain) and back to zero. Now you see 'em, now you don't. What a crazy world, eh?
Temporary celebrities coming from the world of entertainment include one-hit recording artists; TV and movie icons who, although they might have had a great many accomplishments in their career, are remembered for one big role; standouts of reality TV; sports figures remembered for one remarkable accomplishment; and people whose celebrity came from one big role in a commercial or print ad.
News-based temporary celebrities come in many forms: mass/serial killers, other murderers of special note, sex-crime offenders, disgraced figures of government/military/business/media/religion, spies/traitors, hoaxers, femmes/hommes fatale, heroes, whistle blowers, inventors/innovators, and victims.
Celebrity Blogsburg will consider each category in turn.
This blog is devoted to the one part of our celebrity culture that no one has written much about: temporary/one-shot celebrities.
The pace of modern life has quickened, and now we hear people speaking of someone's 15 seconds of fame. These "celebrities with a lower-case c" who will appear in this blog sometimes come to us from the world of entertainment, sometimes from the world of news. All are fascinating.
The need of our communications media for a continual stream of new material assures that we will have no end of colorful people who go quickly, where celebrity is concerned, from zero to hero (or villain) and back to zero. Now you see 'em, now you don't. What a crazy world, eh?
Temporary celebrities coming from the world of entertainment include one-hit recording artists; TV and movie icons who, although they might have had a great many accomplishments in their career, are remembered for one big role; standouts of reality TV; sports figures remembered for one remarkable accomplishment; and people whose celebrity came from one big role in a commercial or print ad.
News-based temporary celebrities come in many forms: mass/serial killers, other murderers of special note, sex-crime offenders, disgraced figures of government/military/business/media/religion, spies/traitors, hoaxers, femmes/hommes fatale, heroes, whistle blowers, inventors/innovators, and victims.
Celebrity Blogsburg will consider each category in turn.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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