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.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Iconic TV role: Masi Oka

The most likable character on the way-out-there TV series "Heroes" is Tokyo-born Masi Oka, who plays the role of Hiro Nakamura, a lad who can travel through time.

He plays this character with great charm-- boyish and shy, yet longing to be a true hero so as to save the world from the bad guys. His is an essentially comic role, for which he affects a high-pitched voice and a wide-eyed, innocent look. He has held this role from 2006 to the present (early 2010).

"Heroes" is more or less a comic book brought to life on television.

Masi Oka moved to the Untied States as a small boy, and as he grew older, he developed interests in movie special effects and computer programming. He has self-reported his IQ as 189, well within the genius category.

His acting credits include appearances on "Dharma and Greg," "Scrubs," and a number of other shows and films. His computer special effects work is impressive, including contributions to "Mighty Joe Young,"three of the "Star Wars" movies, and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Man's Chest."

Clearly this young fellow is capable of many more fine accomplishments, but his celebrity comes almost entirely from playing Hiro.

No comments:

Post a Comment