I saw part of an interview with the rapper 50 Cent recently, where he revealed that he was offered $500,000 - half a million - to attend Trump's inauguration. Not to perform at it, not to give a speech, or perform in any capacity - just to be there. And he turned it down. He said that he couldn't see how he could repair the damage that would do to his reputation.
That got me thinking. Most of us don't deal with celebrity at all. If we're well-known and respected in our field, we're generally known by name alone to only a small handful of people - a few dozen, maybe a few hundred. We're known and respected, sure, but only within our fields.
But politics, entertainment, and a few other things lay a level of celebrity over anyone successful in it, and that changes everything in a person's life. Celebrities have to start wondering whether someone trying to get close to them actually likes them for who they are, or is trying to gain some personal benefit for themselves - money, their own slice of celebrity (see Kato Caelin for an example of this), or connections. Even minor celebrity, such as winners of the now-defunct Publisher's Clearing House or of a large lottery jackpot, start getting people who want to ingratiate themselves to the celebrity for any of a number of reasons. Often money, but not always.
As a result, many celebrities close themselves off from the general public, and start socializing only with other celebrities. This results in celebrity itself becoming a self-reinforcing class system not unlike English nobility. Some celebrities avoid this social stratification, but nevertheless have to find other ways to keep bad-faith actors from approaching them on a nearly limitless basis.
Money itself is not a path to celebrity. Celebrity is, in many ways, more rarified territory than simple riches. The top 1% of society are far too numerous, and even the top 0.1% is more than 150,000 households. Most of them stay out of celebrity - it usually takes direct action (spending money in ostentatious ways, for example) or revelation of crimes (such as the Sackler family) to be catapulted into the spotlight of celebrity. You could say that in a Venn diagram of wealth and celebrity, there's some overlap, but not as much as you might initially think. After the Trumps, Musks, Adelsons, and Waltons, we start getting to names that aren't well-known to the general populace, because these are people who, either through accident or design, did not attract celebrity along with their wealth. Some are simply because they're from another country, and Americans have been more than a bit egocentric for longer than I've been alive. Things that happen outside of our country might as well not matter to us.
Celebrity certainly has its benefits. Being in serious celebrity status, whether it be through sports, acting, or other paths, generally opens doors and allows for connections that one might not otherwise have. Being told that, say, Tom Holland or Taylor Swift wants to meet you is enough for most people, no matter how reclusive they are otherwise, to agree to meeting them, if only to find out what they want. People who would never talk to a black man out of Compton normally will be more likely to meet a Michael Jordan or Zoë Kravitz. Celebrity can result in people giving you money for the smallest of favors, like the one mentioned at the start of this post.
But at the same time, celebrity has its downsides. The most obvious is bad actors - people who seek you out for personal enrichment, without any quid pro quo. Some of them do it semi-honestly, trying to befriend the celebrity. Some do it in other ways, such as accusing a male celebrity of being the father of their baby, or claiming that the celebrity owes them money for some wrong-doing, injustice, or accident. And then there are the stalkers - people who have an unhealthy obsession on the celebrity.
It seems impossible to step out of celebrity once someone becomes a celebrity. At least, by choice - it's possible to lose celebrity by being too boring to keep following, but that's a long process, and uncertain, particularly if you're in a business where being in the spotlight is part of the job.
So what do you think? Would you want your Warholian 15 minutes of fame? Do you think the pros outweigh the cons?
(Apologies if this straddles the line between Soap Box and Lounge, but this seemed too serious of a discussion for the Lounge)
That got me thinking. Most of us don't deal with celebrity at all. If we're well-known and respected in our field, we're generally known by name alone to only a small handful of people - a few dozen, maybe a few hundred. We're known and respected, sure, but only within our fields.
But politics, entertainment, and a few other things lay a level of celebrity over anyone successful in it, and that changes everything in a person's life. Celebrities have to start wondering whether someone trying to get close to them actually likes them for who they are, or is trying to gain some personal benefit for themselves - money, their own slice of celebrity (see Kato Caelin for an example of this), or connections. Even minor celebrity, such as winners of the now-defunct Publisher's Clearing House or of a large lottery jackpot, start getting people who want to ingratiate themselves to the celebrity for any of a number of reasons. Often money, but not always.
As a result, many celebrities close themselves off from the general public, and start socializing only with other celebrities. This results in celebrity itself becoming a self-reinforcing class system not unlike English nobility. Some celebrities avoid this social stratification, but nevertheless have to find other ways to keep bad-faith actors from approaching them on a nearly limitless basis.
Money itself is not a path to celebrity. Celebrity is, in many ways, more rarified territory than simple riches. The top 1% of society are far too numerous, and even the top 0.1% is more than 150,000 households. Most of them stay out of celebrity - it usually takes direct action (spending money in ostentatious ways, for example) or revelation of crimes (such as the Sackler family) to be catapulted into the spotlight of celebrity. You could say that in a Venn diagram of wealth and celebrity, there's some overlap, but not as much as you might initially think. After the Trumps, Musks, Adelsons, and Waltons, we start getting to names that aren't well-known to the general populace, because these are people who, either through accident or design, did not attract celebrity along with their wealth. Some are simply because they're from another country, and Americans have been more than a bit egocentric for longer than I've been alive. Things that happen outside of our country might as well not matter to us.
Celebrity certainly has its benefits. Being in serious celebrity status, whether it be through sports, acting, or other paths, generally opens doors and allows for connections that one might not otherwise have. Being told that, say, Tom Holland or Taylor Swift wants to meet you is enough for most people, no matter how reclusive they are otherwise, to agree to meeting them, if only to find out what they want. People who would never talk to a black man out of Compton normally will be more likely to meet a Michael Jordan or Zoë Kravitz. Celebrity can result in people giving you money for the smallest of favors, like the one mentioned at the start of this post.
But at the same time, celebrity has its downsides. The most obvious is bad actors - people who seek you out for personal enrichment, without any quid pro quo. Some of them do it semi-honestly, trying to befriend the celebrity. Some do it in other ways, such as accusing a male celebrity of being the father of their baby, or claiming that the celebrity owes them money for some wrong-doing, injustice, or accident. And then there are the stalkers - people who have an unhealthy obsession on the celebrity.
It seems impossible to step out of celebrity once someone becomes a celebrity. At least, by choice - it's possible to lose celebrity by being too boring to keep following, but that's a long process, and uncertain, particularly if you're in a business where being in the spotlight is part of the job.
So what do you think? Would you want your Warholian 15 minutes of fame? Do you think the pros outweigh the cons?
(Apologies if this straddles the line between Soap Box and Lounge, but this seemed too serious of a discussion for the Lounge)
