Heroes and Celebrities
The words hero and celebrity get used quite often in our society; the media especially. For the most part, the media tells us as a society who to revere as a hero or as a celebrity. It is a good thing for a society to have heroes and celebrities. It gives us someone to look up to and want to be like, which both types of figures do, however, it is important to know the difference between a hero and a celebrity.
A hero is someone who benefits the community they are in. They are thought of as a hero because they are looked up to as being someone better than the rest of society and someone that society wants to be like. According to dictionary.com, a hero is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities” (Hero, 2010). A celebrity is “a famous or well-known person” (Celebrity, 2010). They could be known for a multitude of reasons, from being an actor, a singer, a hero, of just doing something to make themselves known by many people.
The two words hero and celebrity can get mixed up in society. This is because they are similar in nature. A hero can become a celebrity when their act of heroism becomes well known. President Barak Obama is considered a hero in his supporters eyes because he stands up for what he and his supporters believe in. He became a celebrity when he ran for president and everyone in the nation knew his name. Celebrities can also become heroes, when they use their celebrity status to do good in the world. Lance Armstrong was a celebrity among cyclists and became a hero to those who have cancer after his fight with cancer. The difference between heroes and celebrities is that celebrities are not always known for heroic things and heroes are not always considered celebrities. Some celebrities are known for their scandals; they are not someone you want to look up to as you would a hero. Heroes are not always well-known for their heroism. Heroes can be everyday people who have those selfless qualities of a hero.
Heroes are important to our society. They give us an example to look up to. Some common traits that I think of when I think of a hero are that they are brave, selfless, strong and respectful. Children grow up with heroes that have these traits and they in return want to possess these traits. In addition to being role models to society, real-life heroes also serve our society through their acts of heroism. I would consider those fishermen who helped clean up oil spills to be heroes. Without them, more wild life would be in danger and our ecosystem would be out of balance. I also consider anyone who does volunteer work to be a hero. They are heroes to those people that they are serving. Our society needs heroes because we need someone to look up to. We need to be working to be better than what we are and to be trying to obtain those traits of a hero.
Celebrities can be heroes in the eyes of their fans. When a celebrity has a large fan base that idolizes that celebrity it is known as the cult of celebrity (Cult, 2010). When a celebrity is idolized they have some of the same traits of a hero. I say this because they look up to the celebrity and they want to be like the celebrity. Many musicians have this type of celebrity status. Miley Cyrus and Brittany Spears have both had fans wanting to be like them. They rose above being celebrities and are icons to the music genre. I believe that celebrities exist in our society because society wants people to identify with. Football players are celebrities because football fans can identify with what they do. They like the sport and a particular player who excels at the sport so they become a fan.
Reality TV has made celebrities out of a lot of regular citizens. This type of television show has become increasingly popular for many reasons; some of which are: viewers want to see “real people” perform instead of “scripted characters”, people want to try to figure out the winners of the game, “to see people face challenging situations”, and to see what they would do in that situation (Petracca, 2007). The Next Iron Chef is one reality show that I personally watch. This show focuses on contestants cooking meals of their choice with surprise ingredients and competing against the shows “best chefs”. I believe that people watch this show because there is competition (in which people get eliminated) and they can critique what they would have done in that situation (what they would have done with the surprise ingredients).
I think that people are voted off in this show and in many other reality TV shows because the viewers accept and expect this policy. It is evident in the everyday lives of society that if there is something better we get rid of the old for the better. If an employer needs to get rid of employees to make room for new, he fires the worst employee. Reality shows feed of this accepted practice and vote off the worst contestant.
References
“Celebrity”. (2010). Dictionary.com. Retrieved October 24, 2010 from dictionary.reference.com/browse/celebrity
“Cult of celebrity.” (2010). Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 24, 2010 from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cult_of_celebrity
“Hero”. (2010). Dictionary.com. Retrieved October 24, 2010 from dictionary.reference.com/browse/hero
Petracca, M. & Sorapure, M. (2007). Common Culture. Upper Saddle River: New Jersey.
