- Published: December 28, 2021
- Updated: December 28, 2021
- University / College: University of New Mexico
- Language: English
- Downloads: 33
At this point in time, we have a very large celebrity culture, and it sometimes seems as though anyone can become a ‘ celebrity’ for doing nothing at all. Just take a look at the magazine covers next time you’re walking down the street. Chances are, a reality star or a scandal will embellish the front cover. Where are all the people who are in the media for actually achieving something? Why aren’t athletes, doctors or entrepreneurs on magazine covers? Why aren’t people on the front cover for promoting charities and not just for inappropriate pictures or the newest fashion line? Probably because we live in a generation where we follow celebrities like zombies and don’t really know why.
Why are that people in society try to ensure that children don’t end up like these people on reality TV, such as the Kardashians, or the women on “ The Real Housewives? Where they treat each other horribly for the most part, but they are the people that are given the most attention by the media. Which is leading to a message being sent to kids that being on TV is the end game, that it is the mark of achievement. Meanwhile, athletes are always being blasted by the media for not acting like the role models they are to “ supposed” to be when they party, get drunk and post pictures on the internet. That is because being a role model comes with the job. Sports is a big part of most kids’ lives so athletes are expected to act as such, but the same does not seem to apply to reality television stars. For instance, the women on The Real Housewives of Atlanta are applauded for fighting and have become a huge success for it. Take original Atlanta housewife DeShawn Snow who ran a foundation, highlighted her charities on the show, and tried not to involve herself in the drama of the other ladies. But, she was cut from the show, for displaying a lack of drama, and being ‘ too human’.
These big names in the media are giving kids the wrong idea of what their values should be, which is making kids not able to realize who they really are because they are being brainwashed by the media, who are giving the spotlight to people who just reinforce the values of greed, egocentrism, and materialism. When we were growing up, our teachers taught us to praise great individuals who changed history. My parents would tell me about their idols and of course, I’ve had idols of my own. They were wonderful people to look up to, true role models like Martin Luther King, Bill Gates, John Kennedy, Steve Jobs, the list goes on. We looked up to them because of their accomplishments, such as speaking up when no one else would, become something from nothing, and fighting for causes they believed in. Many of these people changed our world. These days you don’t see a lot of kids idolize people for what they achieve or what good they do for society. You see them idolize people for no real reason at all. These days you see kids idolize rappers and reality tv stars who have done nothing good for society but are just in the trend. Not that all rappers and reality tv stars are like this, there are many people who have done lots for society. For example, Drake has donated over one million dollars to random people it is God’s Plan music video, paying for tuitions, giving money to people in need, buying people cars etc. As a society Stop boosting the egos of famous people in this generation. You want real idols. Go to shake hands with next doctor, fireman, or police officer you see or other celebrities who dedicate most of their free time to actually making a difference in society. When scrolling through social media you’ll see all these celebrities flaunting all the nice expensive things they have, from clothes and shoes to mansions and private jets. This is giving kids a materialistic mindset of people’s worth is not judged by who they are but on how much stuff they possess. This is how the new culture views others, this is how we start to view ourselves. We judge our self-based on what things we possess. Even we have the latest and the greatest there will always be someone with something we want or someone that we see as “ better” based on their possessions, this causes us to not be satisfied with what we have and just keep wanting more and more. In our modern society, we turn to materials to measure the worth of ourselves and others. A perfect example of this is social media.
“ Did you see the shoes Kanye was wearing? Those are so cool I need those”. Kanye West was spotted at fashion week wearing Ultra boost a shoe that sat in stores waiting for someone to pick them up. The shoe retails at $180. Right after he was seen wearing these shoe kids where itching to get a hold of a pair, they instantly starting selling out in stores and where being resold for up to $500. This shows that when kids on social media see celebrities have things we don’t we crave to have them to be just like them. As I am a hypocrite about this myself my parents have spent more than $600 on one pair of shoes just because I saw Kanye wear them on Instagram wearing them. I felt like I needed those shoes not because they were the nicest shoes I’ve ever seen it was so I could show off to everyone I know which made me feel more confident and better about myself, but after a couple months this wore off I could care less about them, just wanting the new pair I saw him wear.
We are in a culture where kids are going broke trying to look rich. Buying expensive clothes to be just like the celebrities that are in the trend so they fit in. This is making it hard for kids to really find who they are as buying these clothes and shoes to show what they want to be, not for who they really are. Your ego is the self-identity developed at birth, it is based on reaction to fears and it is the person who you think you are until you work to find who you really are. Social media is the place where most people like to show that they’re “ better” than everyone else. The majority of posts on social media are photos from fabulous vacations, expensive purchases, brags about insignificant personal achievements and do you think these posts are about sharing their life with you? How many times have you seen celebrities sharing embarrassing moments or setbacks of their lives on social media? The answer is you don’t because these days most celebrities want you to think that they are perfect, that they are better than everyone else just because they have more money and fame. Celebrities thinking that they are better than everyone else is rubbing off on the youth. these days kids care so much about the number of followers and likes they get on social media. It’s the way they measure someone’s popularity, based on their number of Instagram followers. The more followers you have, the more liked, respected and admired you are by your fellow peers. There’s a hierarchy of people and their followers. These days you’ll only see popular kids hang out with popular kids because they think that they’re better than other people all because of a number on social media. Kim Kardashian once dissed Angelina Jolie by saying “ I’m more famous than you”. She said that just because she’s more famous she’s, therefore, better and more important which isn’t true. This is something that happens with a lot of kids. I’ve been to many parties and its something I see all the time. The kids with lots of followers act like they’re as important as the president and when they do get into arguments I’ve heard many of times they bring up social media and the number of followers they have. This mindset all comes from celebrities when they act like their better than everyone else because of their followers, which makes kids desire to have lots of followers to have the same feeling of wanting to be above everyone else. When in reality the number of followers you have doesn’t define how good or important you are as a person. A disturbing aspect of the media’s perspective on success is its necessary that success must be achieved at any cost. This culture of success a causes the youth to believe that they must succeed in our culturally defined ways. This culture of greed not only accepts, but also encourages this “ win at all costs” mentality by modeling lying, cheating and manipulation in order to succeed. Examples of this twisted view of success is in reality TV it is full of lying and deception.
Stars of The Real Housewives of New Jersey Joe and Teresa Giudice pleaded guilty to 41 counts of fraud, following a deal struck with federal prosecutors. The couple was accused of engaging ink, mail, ban wire, and bankruptcy fraud, which allegedly saw them net over $5 million over a 10-year period. Joe was sentenced 41 months in jail and Teresa was sentenced 15 months in jail. The Internet now exposes kids to a wider and more diverse range of greed, from reality TV stars to politicians the message greed is telling kids that everyone cheats, it’s ok to cheat, and they must cheat if they are going to keep up with those who are already cheating.
With so much of our culture sending messages through the media to kids that it’s okay to lie, cheat, steal, be irresponsible and act selfishly, how the youth not come to the conclusion that such behavior is not only perfectly acceptable, but absolutely necessary to find success in life? We live in a generation where celebrities in the media have a huge impact on the youth. When they are exposed to these elegant lifestyles they struggle to stay true to themselves, seeing these celebrities live out these lifestyles day to day is making hard to not doubt themselves on how they act and live day to day life. It’s up to the youth to realize that the lives of these celebrities aren’t so glamorous, having money, fame and power will not give you life fulfillment, it’s when you decide to accept yourself.