Empty-headed Celebrities are the new gods

For the sake of this debate, I will be referring to actors/singers/personalities/writers as celebrities, I am not referring to politicians as celebrities. Many celebrities are great people, although some are not very nice at all. I am arguing that celebrity status does not make one a better person, and also that we should not touch idolisation with a barge-pole. There are multiple reasons why celebrities are incorrectly perceived as god-like individuals: 1. The major celebrities are followed by paparazzi for a vast majority of their time in public, so every single thing they do in public has the capacity to be blazoned on newspapers and the Internet. Therefore, good acts that are done by celebrities are made known to everyone and before long they are seen as modern-day saints. However, the very same good acts are done everyday by normal people and ignored. To summarise, publicity augments one's appearance of altruism. 2. Celebrities have the means and the connections to do good things that many ordinary WANT to do but can't. For example, I'm sure that there are many people who would like to sing a Number 1 hit charity single but this kind of thing is only really possible to celebrities. Therefore, celebrities ARE the only ones supporting large charity schemes, but only because they are able to, not because they are better people. Continuing on, idolising celebrities is ultimately a negative thing, mainly on an existential level. We should not idolise celebrities (especially to the point at which we regard them as gods) because it is an excessive veneration of someone who, really, is not fundamentally different to a normal person. Is a singing, writing or acting talent really worthy of such adoration? Furthermore, it can take the focus off one's own life if they are constantly focusing on a celebrity. Even if one does maintain their self-worth then it just brings to light the sheer unsuitability of having celebrities as role models; their lives are so abnormal compared to normal people so in the vast majority of cases people become disillusioned and ultimately fail by aspiring to such an anomalous existence in the first place. You say that celebrities bring hope, but hope for what? What brings hope to a celebrity is probably vastly different to what brings hope to a normal person. On a more cynical note, celebrities want to sell albums and so their motives are most probably financial. This means that all their 'encouragement' is simply stroking their admirers' egos because this is the 'encouragement' people want to hear, and go on to buy. For example, Meghan Trainor's recent song 'All about that bass' is so popular because it strokes the egos of overweight people. If she wrote a song advising them to lose weight (which is better for them) then she wouldn't have sold a lot. This example also highlights how celebrities can be irresponsible with so much public influence; songs like the aforementioned one glorify obesity in a society which is suffering from an obesity crisis. Placing so much value on celebrity's words and actions can be detrimental to their personal following. Finally, it is debatable as to whether a celebrity lifestyle should actually be aspired to. Fame can do terrible things to people (1) and it is a near-total annihilation of privacy. It may seem like a great life from outside, but worryingly few celebrities are singing the praises of being famous. (1)http://www.biography.com...