Celebrities have become a commodity. A resource that is
promoted, advertised, invested in, and retailed. Hollywood will fund a film
because 50 Cent is interested, rather than because the script is superb or
Darren Aronofsky wishes to direct it. Producers are willing to pay Mr
Cent 10 Million for his contribution because they know his involvement will
return 20 million. Similarly, ghost writers will write songs for artists who
are more attractive or marketable. Celebrities are nothing more than bank
cheques to these media empires. Don’t get me wrong, there are celebrities who
have earned there fame. Apart from being one half of the world’s most
attractive couple, Brad Pitt has proven time and time again to be an extremely
talented actor in such iconic roles as Tyler Durden and Jesse James.
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| Brad Pitt as Jesse James in 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford ( http://jerfalerf.wordpress.com ) |
Old media has crafted and perfected this art of
manufacturing celebrities and frankly, why would they change anything about it?
It works. Artists are sick of this fame train and that is why they have begun
turning to the internet as a means of sharing their art. Perhaps the best
example of this is the eccentric rapper, Tyler, the Creator, co-founder of OFWGKTA. Tyler has spent
his entire short career doing it his own way. He releases his music online for
free, he made his own record label instead of signing to one, He’s rude to paparazzi and jokes about suicide. Simply put, he is a PR nightmare. But
his fans just love him all the more for it.
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| A .Gif taken from Tyler's music video, 'Yonkers' ( http://frozensecond.tumblr.com/). |
References
Marshall, P.D 2010, 'The Specular Economy', Society,Vol. 47, Issue 6, pp. 498-502, retrieved 7/9/2012, EBSCOHos
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