After my celebrity class moved online and the universities closed due to COVID-19 in March, I no longer had access to informal chats or insights into celebrity gossip and news. Recently, I noticed a shift in celebrity culture. It has shifted, just like capitalism. This change reflects how closely celebrity culture and capitalism are intertwined.
Richard Dyer argued over 30 years ago that celebrity culture was a form of “triumphant Individualism” ideologically linked up with capitalism. He said that society on celebrities, who are transcendent beings surpassing what ordinary people can do, is similar to the belief in Western culture that capitalism allows all individuals to reach their highest potential.
Guardian Columnist Arwa Mahdawi noted recently that both celebrity and capitalism rely on “ies of meritocracy” and” working hard leads to ultimate success.
COVID-19 has exposed the flimsy nature of the myth of meritocracy.
It’s time to look at the less-than-essential works of celebrities.
“Hit is ggettin’real”Cardi B uploaded a 46-second video on Instagram titled “Coronavirus!” Coronavirus! Coronavirus! Shit is getting real!”” Within a few days, DJ Snake and DJ iMarkkeyz released YouTube remix versions of Cardi BB’srant. DJ iMarkkeyz was known for transforming memes into songs, so he remixed CCardi’s” Local.” The New York Times reported that “Coronavirus Remix” had been steadily climbing on download charts around the world.
As Cardi B had predicted, the shittiness of it all became real on March 11. After their positive tests, as well as that of NBA player Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz, all major league sports shut down. Closed TV and film sets. Celebrities began to use the internet within a few short days.
Talk shows
Virtual versions of daytime talk shows such as View, Elle, and The View continue to be broadcast.
Late-night programs have also followed suit. Conan OO’Brienkeeps his cable show running from home using an iPhone and Skype. NBC Jimmy Fallon produces 10-minute segments called “t home” for NBC Tonight. Stephen Colbert creates 10-minute clips from CCBS’sbathtub. Jimmy Kimmel performs monologues at home.
Fallon, who appeared recently as a Virtual Guest on SSiriusXM’sThe Howard Stern Show, spoke about his “t Home” and recalled that, following September 11, 2001, he sought advice from then-talk show host David Letterman. Letterman’s words inspired Fallon, “pretending courage is as good as real courage,” to air the YouTube segments from his pandemic era.
The show must go ahead.
The idea that the circus was a great way to keep the crowds entertained and distracted dates back to the 19th century. The ringmaster would keep the show going if an animal or performer was injured so the public wouldn’t panic or leave. Since then, the show business industry has been defined as follows: singers must sing, dancers must dance, and the masses have to be entertained.
This is particularly true in the theater. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Universal Studios teamed up in a series titled “he Shows Must Go On” to offer free viewings of his musicals via YouTube during the socially distancing age.
In some cases, celebrity culture is used to distract us from our daily lives. It can also be a source of social connection. We have parasocial relationships, which are one-sided relationships in which we give emotional energy, time, and interest to celebrities, but they don’t know that we exist.
This creates second-order intimacy through mass media rather than personal experience. While we may not know celebrities personally if we consume their work, watch them on talk shows, and perhaps even indulge in a gossip magazine, we will feel as if we do.
How sincere do they seem?
This pandemic’s physical distance has revealed the deep desire of some celebrities to produce parasocial behavior and create intimacy with us, the people whom they need to keep their star power.
Celebrity public service announcements are becoming the “new gossip” content. Examples include Elton John’s Heart Living Room Concert for America and Kevin BBacon’s #IStayHomeFor Twitter challenge.
In the past 30 years, outlets such as TMZ have made celebrity gossip a lucrative industry. We feel as if we know celebrities after being taken behind the scenes. They, in turn, treat us like real friends. WWe’renot.
Larry David, Samuel L. Jackson, and former Jersey Shore Reality star Mike Sorrentino all lend their voices to PSAs. Other celebrities, such as Rihanna, have also responded. She has made charitable contributions that are worth millions.
The celebrity announcements, along with new glimpses of their homes, have raised many questions about the level of privilege and honesty of these celebrities.
It was most notable when David Geffen shared a photo on Instagram of his yacht, with the caption “unset yesterday night… isolated at the Grenadines to avoid the virus.” His post certainly did not comfort those who are currently in precarity.
Bobby Flay, a celebrity chef with a reported net worth of $30 million, has also set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise $100,000 for his restaurant workers who are not currently working due to the coronavirus. Could he not use some of his millions in order to help these people?
Some celebrity moments have felt genuine, while others were bizarre.
Some music mashups, such as Tyler’s collaboration with Jennifer Hudson and others to perform “He’sGot The World In His Arms “and Canadian R&B divas Tamia & Deborah Cox covering Whitney Houston/CeCe WWinan’s “ount on Me “have been successful. But others have not, including the star-studded singalong led by Wonder Woman. According to Buzzfeed, Michael Blackmon: The singalong did not inspire a “digital Kumbaya” for our pandemic-stricken world.
Will celebrity culture ever change?
It’s hard to predict the future of celebrity culture and capitalism. But one thing is for sure: content will inevitably diminish.
According to Forbes, although Netflix does not face the same problem as networks because its series are producers at once for binge-releases, both streaming services, and the networks could run out of content in the next few weeks.
After the pandemic is over, celebrities may no longer be a part of our media culture.
It could also become content that we consume in the future, just as it was after the Second World War when Hollywood created a whole genre of film — war movies, which is still going strong nearly 70 years on. Musicians then responded with songs that we can still recall today.