On Being a Celebrity and the Objectification of People
The American culture is dependent on the possibility that anyone can make it big. It’s the illusion that keeps the poor in line and the rich in power. The American rich 1% holds more wealth than the bottom 90%. That is hardly fair and Americans are addicted to the idea that they can become the 1%.
Due to wanting to be wealthy and not having it, America settles for the next best thing: living vicariously through celebrities and the rich. The rich and famous become objects – not people – as portrayed by the television, magazines, and news. They become a name – a brand – to be packaged, bought, and sold like any other commodity in our capitalistic system.
This is a system of control. The poor are appeased by having the rare possibility that they too – with their talents and uniqueness can also make it big. The rich and famous; who are also inmates in our cultural prison who have more privilege, are treated like gods.
For example, I just went to see a concert a few weeks ago and during the show the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars walked into the crowd. People went out of their way to run up and touch him (it was really bizarre) to have bragging rights. To touch a celebrity or have an object that they were associated with is like touching divinity in our culture.
This is a really weird aspect of American culture that I don’t really understand because in my understanding of humanity – we are all equal. I wouldn’t want to touch another human unless I was close to them but for it to be socially acceptable to forcefully touch another person without consent on the mere fact they can sing, act, or dance is ridiculous.
This living vicariously through fame is destructive to celebrities. The latest example being the Tiger Woods incident and how people just can’t seem to mind their own business. Who cares? I have my own life to deal with and I don’t have time to be focusing my life on people I never met.
Even in death, celebrities can not escape their fame and be given an ounce of peace. Grave robbers if given the chance, will steal famous people’s remains. The Hollywood cemetery is now a tourist attractions where you can visit your favorite dead residence. Even a corpse is marketable.
People need to stop worshiping celebrities and the rich. People are people, not objects. People need to learn to live and let live and mind their own business. Here’s a secret for you: The rich and famous only have “wealth” and “power” because you give it to them. If you would stop giving them power, they wouldn’t have any. If we spent more time empowering ourselves for our own beauties and less time drooling over our fellow apes – we’d have a much healthier society.
An Anoymous Question: College and Higher Education
I’ve gone to college. I’ve been to several colleges. I haven’t graduated yet and currently on leave from my most current school. I’ve been to a university of California, a private Catholic university, a community college, and two prestigious art schools. I’ve changed majors so far five times. I was: theater, painting, illustration, film, and fine arts. Plus, I was part of and lead several clubs and organizations. My current GPA is around a 3.5. I’ve studied on the West coast and the East coast. I’ve been through about six years of college so far. I know college very well. I might graduate someday. I have enough credits for it just none in the right places.
Overall, I was very disappointed with college. It was a lot of work but it wasn’t hard. I was hoping to find intelligent life and people I could relate to. I didn’t which is why I changed schools so many times because I thought perhaps it was the school and the crowd it attracted. First university was all sex, drugs, and beer. I’m straightedge and not into partying so I didn’t have much of a social life. The people were plastic, superficial and materialistic. So, I tried going to the extreme opposite which was a private Catholic university. The Catholic university was too Catholic – they taught creationism in the science classes and people thought that was a good thing so I had to leave. The art schools were pretentious, highly competitive, and cut throat. My fellow students were mean and jerks. The community college was something I tried to do to just get a few credits while in limbo but being surrounded by the people who attended it depressed me so much I just had to drop out.
I think college is a system within the System. It’s part of the capitalistic machine to train the next generation of workers. It’s also a system of control. Knowledge is power and the rich don’t want to part with it. Depending on which college you go to depends on what education you will get. If you go to Standford, they’ll teach you to be a CEO. If you go to a state school, they teach you to be a manager. It’s very classist because college is about the money not about teaching. If you can’t afford it, you’ll be working minimum wage jobs for the rest of your life with a few rare exceptions. In college, it’s more of the formal conditional received through the public school system as they try to control how you’ll think and relate to the world. They fill your head full of knowledge that has their slant to it. They want you to think in their terms with their ideas. They don’t want you thinking for yourself.
With that being said, the only way the system is going to change is if the people change it. The only way the system is going to change is from within. Have you seen the movie SLC Punk? Stevo’s realization that you can do more harm to the system from within than from the outside leads him to go back to school to become a lawyer. The only way the we’re going to destroy the system of control is to become the system then dismantle it. If the people don’t want the system to be there, it wouldn’t be there. We could build a new world.
I think college education is important to become the system to fight the system. I am considering going back to school to get a women’s and gender studies degree and then going on to get a PH.D. I want to teach the world about peace, love, freedom from oppression and hierarchies, and equality. However, I recently talked to a former professor of mine who has a PH.D and mentioned my idea, thinking that having a credential would make people more willing to listen to me. His exact words to me were, “I have a PH.D and it doesn’t make people listen to me.†So, I am unsure right now if I really need school. It all depends on what you want to do with your life and if school will help get you there. It’s a personal thing and the answer is different for everyone.
Treat Me For Who I Am and Not How I Look
Looks can be deceiving and you can’t judge a person by their looks. For example, who’s more threatening: a blue haired mohawked, tattoo studded jacket wearing punk rocker or a person wearing nondescript clothing and generic hair? I would say the person who’s wearing the nondescript clothing and generic hair is a greater threat than the blue haired mohawked, tattooed studded jacket wearing punk. Why? Think about it: If the blue mohawked person robbed you – they would be easy to spot and find as they are unique looking and standing out from the crowd. They might look like a threat being so loud but in reality they are harmless because if you are up to no good – you don’t want to draw attention to yourself. The generic hair and nondescript clothing person could rob you and if you tried to describe them to the cops – they just look like everyone else. There are a few exceptions when people who are loud are also violent and crazy but *usually* they are as law abiding as anyone. They dress differently to make a statement and express individuality. The punk rocker might appear to be a threat but they are really not to you as an individual.
People treat me funny because I am tattooed, pierced, and mohawked. All it is really is their fear of the unknown showing. Think about it: if I was really a danger I wouldn’t go around advertising the fact. There are a few exceptions to the rules but most of the time when someone advertises being a radical, they aren’t up to anything illegal. They might have different ideas than the mainstream and philosophies and be a threat to the status quo but they aren’t breaking any laws.
Laws are there to give people the illusion they are “safe”. Think about it: if there was a law to enforce identification cards (like they are planning in the UK) only the law abiding citizens will do it. The criminals don’t care about the law and won’t follow it or get fake IDs. It’s to give the masses, the sheep, the appearance of order in the chaos we exist in. The criminals will be criminals and do illegal things while the masses fall into line. The ID card is a stupid idea and very 1984ish because it only applies to who will follow the law to begin with.
More laws equal less freedom. Sure, common courtesy laws like not stealing or killing are nice to have to protect me from your average idiot. I am an anarchist and sometimes I am grateful for the police to protect me from stupid people. For instance, the police helped me out when I was punched in the face for being a “homosexual.” In an ideal, anarchical society, the person would behave like an anarchist and respect his fellow human beings – however, the assaulter was moronic, angry and fucked up so I need the police to protect me from people like that.
However, I am against police brutality and abuse of power. There is a difference in keeping people safe from the idiots of the world and harassing someone because they have a studded vest. One time, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time eating pizza on the steps of Search and Destroy in NYC and the police treated me like I was a criminal when all I was doing was eating pizza. It was pretty scary – they patted me down and violated my rights all because they have nothing else to do. There’s also the cops who give out traffic tickets for being a few miles over the speed limit to make their quota. Things like that are an abuse of power – laws are there to keep you safe from other human’s stupidity not be a money making tool.
That is not the case in our capitalistic society. The law system and prison system are money making tools. It’s really messed up.
The question is: How will this change? The answer: Is with you. If the people were to stop profiling and treat people for who they are and not what they look like we would have a stronger, happier society.
