PERREAULT Magazine JUNE | JULY | Page 60

Fame vs Status

The definition of fame is noted in the dictionary as “the condition of being known or talked about by many people” and status is defined as “the relative social, professional, or other standing of someone.” Although both words usually come hand in hand for celebrities, it is not always the case for the majority of the population. In our normal everyday life we encounter plenty of situations where status is a norm: at the store, at your job, in your home, at a conference, etc. Fame on the other hand is not part of people’s daily life we don’t normally interact with famous people. It is almost as if they were from another galaxy which we do not belong. This might explain why we are so obsessed by them. The lack of interaction with them and the fact that they are so far-fetched from our own reality allows our minds to create all sorts of imaginary tales about them.

I believe our obsession with celebrities is at our peak these days with all the modern technology like Facebook and YouTube. We are now able to spread the word like never before. Not too long ago spreading the word was not that easy. In fact, 99.9% of our human lifeline had no way of spreading the word as we do today. Everything was story based and just like we do with celebrities we were able to distort the reality as if these people were from outer space. Think of the Achilles heel story, or the size of the tiger the hunter from a distant tribe captured. We loved exaggerating things to feel empowered and have something to look for.

Fame has been skewed over time. In the previous example, the tribe member that captured the big tiger was famous within his tribe and some close by tribes; or the guy that was able to make awesome spears was famous for having the best ones around.

Today fame has switched from more realistic and practical to intangible things like being good at playing soccer or just being pretty and rich.

The trouble here lies in that people have a false sense of reality. In the past you might learn something from the famous lion hunter from the nearby valley, but in today’s society what can you really learn from celebrities who do not offer anything tangible?

What can you possibly take from Paris Hilton to emulate yourself to be famous and rich? Millions of people look up to these people in hopes that one day by imitating them, their lives will change as well. You probably have a better chance of being the president of the US than becoming someone like Paris.

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