Published: September 02, 2008
It used to be that people were known for being heroes. Doing something noble or worthy of praise would be reason for someone's popular acclaim, but with the advance of mass media, a new phenomenon arose within American culture. People began to be known-just for being known. In media studies we've come to know this phenomenon as the rise of the celebrity.
Today, people famous for being famous are not simply celebrated; they are part of an entertainment culture that increasingly sets the tone for the values we espouse as well as those we project out into the wider world. Unfortunately, whether or not we personally adhere to the values of celebrity culture, we are influenced by them in many ways. Whether through obvious temptations, endless amusements and distractions, obsession with our "looks," the frittering away of our time, or the slow and seemingly innocuous stream of a carnal images and ideas, our lives are increasingly shaped by the entertainment culture in which we live. It is an environment. We are in its bubble.
Knowledge of the entertainment culture is even more disconcerting as we consider that our collective footstep is deeply entrenched in the mire of media exploitation. As Americans, we are seen and perceived through media portrayals. But that is a subject for another day.
Celebrity culture came to a high pitch with the introduction of the television to our society, but it started long before that. Today's hyper-fascination with Anna Nicole's baby, Tom Cruise's Oprah incident, or the grueling and overplayed escapades of Britney Spears, comes on the heels of the many reinventions and exploitation of earlier celebrated entertainers such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and countless others. Prior to television were the silent pictures, the radio age-and mass media in general-all of which became a catalyst to provide the populace with a false sense of "knowing" others.
There are many theories on the subject of celebrity culture, but one of the most compelling is known as "parasocial theory" which involves the way identification with unknown others became common with mass media into the cultural milieu. Along with the recreational joys of making film and television, and finding creative new ways of story-telling and artistic expression, the mass media have been linked to several unforeseen consequences of cultural malaise, one of which is strongly tied to what has come to be known as the cult of celebrity.
With that, the concept and experience of "intimacy" completely changed. Largely through the vehicle of television, people became privy to the details of the private lives of strangers. Through the technological innovations on screen, actors, news anchors, and public figures could now be represented by an image of themselves, which is always something more (or something less) than reality. These media representations provided a view into human relationships and personal identity that was "made for TV." High drama, cropped frames, careful shot selection, close-ups of facial expression-all these techniques served to slowly change public perception of what it meant to be close. But instead of "up close and personal," we became distant and mediated.
This experience is something far different from the personal experience of knowing or the story-telling tradition that protects the idea of mystery and places the individual imagination at the center of our ability to know others. With the advance of the Internet, particularly in blogging, YouTube, and the expansion of digital formats, this propensity to become psychologically attached to those we don't really know has increased. We seem to know everyone, but do we really "know" them? Are we involved in their lives, or do we simply know more about their lives?
Celebrity has become the new sacred. The evening news is no longer peppered with gossip, it is saturated with it. Television executives tell us they wouldn't broadcast these trivial bits of celebrity's personal lives except that the public calls for it. If this is true, why is it so? Why are we so willing to watch the shallow bits and bytes of lives of people who populate the screens of our mass media? These are people who are famous for being famous. Certainly, we must ask ourselves: Do we truly hunger for the vicarious and distant parasocial relationships that television, film, and the Internet serve us daily?
I don't think so.
Parker Palmer, a contemporary educator/author and brother in Christ, captures part of the answer in his thoughts about community, saying:
The modern divorce of the knower and the known has led to the collapse of community and accountability between the knowing self and the known world. (1993)
If this is so, it is key to the renewal and restoration of the Church as the Body of Christ. In addition, Palmer's assessment of contemporary society provides much needed insight to the crazed and growing violence and misery of life in the west.
With the emergence and ensuing immersion of this entertainment culture onto the American landscape, the Church finds itself in the unique position of offering people something entirely different from the celebrity-soaked emphasis on the material world: the Gospel.
Yes, the Gospel. No new version, just pure, simple, free, and without bells and whistles-the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. What the Creator of the universe has made available to the world through Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The love that God has poured out requires no marketing plan or celebrity testimonials to keep it relevant. His love does not require a fresh-new-American-twist to make sure the media picks it up and turns it into another venture in entertainment.
Yet instead of setting the pace for the purity of expression and advancing the Gospel by allowing the church to be the church, American Christianity has-by and large-bought a front-row ticket to the cult of celebrity. And like so much else in the past century, Christianity has found itself imitating the world instead of leading the way out of the confusion.
Confronting the cult of celebrity in America will take more than choosing whether or not we use rock bands for our worship time on Sundays or bring in a famous Christian television star for a special service. It will take a strong dose of medicine that comes in the way of tough questions. Are we treating church-members like the audiences of pop-culture? Are we so interested in getting bigger numbers through the door that we plan our yearly events according to the latest "big name" draw? What about the simple joy of taking time to get to know one another? Are you too busy for it? Am I?
Do we remember what it means to function in the gift of hospitality, spending time caring for each other, visiting the elderly, or helping a neighbor? Doing the small, unnoticeable deeds that help build the community of faith are much more important to advancing the call of discipleship than getting people out to the pews for another big night of celebrity preaching.
If American Christianity would refuse to embrace the cult of celebrity and begin to value everyday brothers and sisters instead of big name bands and star preachers, we would see refreshment and reality return to our altars. Surely, then, our everyday lives would begin to take on the fragrance of Christ in the marketplace instead of the stench of the idolatry that festers in the hotbed of the cult of celebrity.
tephanie Bennett, Ph.D., is associate professor of communication and media studies at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla., where she enjoys teaching and researching topics concerning media ecology, philosophy of communication, and the church and culture. She and her husband, Earl, make their home in Palm Springs, Fla.
Copyright © 2008 Stephanie Bennett and 316 Networks. All rights reserved.