• by Bonnie Fuller , September 5, 2008

Our obsession with celebrity culture won't change.

The question I am asked the most is: "Are we ever going to get sick of celebrities?" Then, "Have we already?" Of course, the very next question is usually along the lines of, "Is it true that Madonna and Guy are getting divorced?" or "Did Brad and Angelina really get $15 million for the photos of their twins?"

Recently, I was lured into a discussion with a highly educated career woman and a business guy - and yes, he's heterosexual - about a public comment that reality star Kim Kardashian had made. Apparently, she needs to wax every day, and my discussion mates were deeply curious as to why anyone would require daily waxing. Where would she go to do it? What parts need attending to? Now, if that isn't proof enough that the celebrity obsession is alive and well and shows no signs of abating, then I can give you many more examples.

How about the fact that the world practically stopped recently to debate Miley Cyrus' 15-year-old sexuality, or that celebrity blogs continue to proliferate and that we're now in an election campaign where presidential handlers are showcasing their candidates like celebrities in order to get the utmost attention. If the PR teams for presidential hopefuls think there is any waning in the power of celebrities, then why are they placing their candidates on mass magazine covers and on popular TV talk shows? Barack and Michelle Obama happily graced the cover of US Weekly under with the populist headline, "Why Barack Loves Her." Inside, the mag features "Stars are Just Like Us"-style photos of the Obamas out and about doing everyday activities with their daughters.

That same week, Michelle Obama appeared as a "cohost" on The View, where she joked with the ladies and Matthew Broderick, in a pretty $148 black and white dress that women subsequently were flocking to buy. She's become a fashion trendsetter. Meanwhile, Cindy McCain appeared - relaxed, hair loose and flowing - in an eight-page spread in June's issue of Vogue wearing Lucky Brand jeans and a white Ralph Lauren trench coat. She also graced the cover of Newsweek in a pink Chanel-like suit, appearing every inch the appealing A-lister.

And, I say, the strategy behind these political PR moves is correct. It's been proven in many, many ways over the past several years that Americans - especially women - have a huge appetite for celebrity news, views and even leadership, especially in the areas of fashion, beauty and charitable behavior. Americans love their celebrities. And one of the reasons they are so fond of them is because they are so familiar with them. Familiarity has bred affection. That's why if Americans become very familiar with the presidential candidates and their wives, their handlers know that we will like them better, and of course, then we'll be more likely to vote for them.

So exactly why do we care so much about celebrities? And why is the aspect of "familiarity" so important to the tsunami success of celebrity culture?

We love celebrities because we're human, and since the dawn of time have been obsessed with the celebrities of our own cultures. For most of human history, that has been the tribal leaders or royalty. Those were the people who were the wealthiest and most powerful and who married other wealthy, powerful and attractive people. They were the most interesting people in society and people love to talk and gossip about the most fascinating newsmakers in their worlds. Can you imagine how much the English yakked about Henry VIII and all his wives? Or what the French had to say about Marie Antoinette's gowns, hairstyles and lovers before they cut off her head?

Today, we don't have royalty, we have Hollywood. And we all know and can talk about the rich, famous and beautiful who inhabit that world. The fact that we all know them fuels the obsession. Anyone can now go to any cocktail or dinner party and, even if you've never met any of the other guests, easily get right at home sharing conversation if you bring up Britney, TomKat or Brangelina. Celebrities bring you together. And they're completely entertaining. The conversation won't ever be boring because celebrities, living in the rarified world that they do, continually do things in their real lives that are more fascinating and shocking than any fiction that most of us could dream up. Britney shaving her head in public, Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch, Paris Hilton snapping back at John McCain in her own campaign video, good girl Anne Hathaway's boyfriend being arrested for allegedly swindling $21 million, Anna Nicole Smith being discovered dead in bed like her heroine, Marilyn Monroe, Jamie Lynn Spears pregnant at 16 ... who can make this stuff up! Now, why wouldn't the gossip-loving public want to know every last detail?

Now as for the question - will celebrity fever go too far? Will it ever get downright dangerous for celebrities? Interestingly William Bratton, the chief of the Los Angeles police department, recently commented on how when celebrities themselves "behave" like normal citizens , he cited Britney, Lindsay and Paris as examples of stars who have settled down, the paparazzi frenzy disappears. My point here is that celebrities as well as the paparazzi need to obey the traffic laws including not driving under the influence. However, so far, it is celebs who have put themselves or the public at greater risk than the paparazzi ie Nicole Ritchie DUI and driving the wrong way down the highway, Shia LaBeouf rolling his car over and charged with DUI, Mel Gibson DUI, Mischa Barton DUI, Keifer Sutherland DUI etc etc. No paparazzi has been charged with a DUI while on the job as far as I know.

Aside from being fascinating, you can't deny that celebrities - especially female celebrities - come in all heights, sizes, hair colors, ages and ethnic backgrounds, and yet are highly attractive. Women today are so liberated, they've thrown off the shackles of "cover model" looks. They have refused to buy magazines whose covers feature skinny, barely post-pubescent no-name models.

Instead, they've flocked to pick up mags that have broken every old rule, because they crave cover beauties they can relate to. In the last few months, fashion and beauty covers have featured, among others, a pregnant 40-plus Halle Berry, mom of two Gwyneth Paltrow, full-figured Queen Latifah, country star Carrie Underwood, and of course, a pregnant Angelina Jolie. Hardly the faces and bodies that would have been gracing the newsstand racks two years ago ... but then, of course, we had the "supers:" Cindy, Christy, Naomi, Linda and Elle. And they were celebrities we cared about a lot, too. When they receded from covers and were replaced by no-names, that's when the cover rebellion began in earnest. Today's range of female celebrities provide women with a variety of fashion, beauty and lifestyle role models, so they don't feel pushed into any cookie cutters.
They also give them food-for-thought on important life decisions - whether to have babies through in vitro fertilization (presumably) when you're over 40 like Marcia Cross or newscaster Nancy Grace, or to forge ahead with an unexpected pregnancy like Nicole Richie, or date a much younger man like Jen Aniston did, or to adopt your husbands' strict belief system like Katie Holmes.

So celebrities are no longer just the perfect water-cooler fodder - they are now fashion, beauty and style role models, lifestyle role models and even romance role models.

This generation of women is devoid of a larger-than-life Dear Abby, Amy Vanderbilt, Coco Chanel or Eleanor Roosevelt to guide them on how to live various aspects of their lives and deal with their various personal crises.

Is it really any surprise then that women are going to seek observational dos-and-don'ts from those they can relate to, whether it's Lauren Conrad (what to do about a backstabbing ex-best friend), or Michelle Obama (how to dress to look pretty but still be taken seriously)? With all this in mind - how can we ever get over the celebrity obsession?

If evolution starts working on it now, perhaps we'll be done with it in a few thousand years.

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