Quest for Validation

Individuals have constantly been considered fundamentally social creatures: we desire attention and validation. In celebrities, despite sometimes achieving negative attention, we become infatuated by the attention devoted to them. In Gary Laderman's Sacred Matters, he writes that celebrities "blur the boundaries between fantasy and stark reality, fanaticism and civil respectability, infatuation and mere entertainment." (71)

In class, we discussed Kim Kardashian and her lack of substance/reason for fame. While I'd agree that the majority of the US population is aware of this, we are infatuated by the attention given to her and her family. Perhaps we are seeking ideas for means of validation through someone who appears to have gained international fame for doing virtually nothing substantial. It almost make her fame more attainable to mere "civilians" of society who seek the validation of others, so intrinsic to our human nature.

We flock to the sections in magazines that describe "stars just like us" because they make this desired social status attainable and real. Ideas of fame such as these, blur the line as Laderman mentioned between our basic realities and fantastical desires.

The Idolatry of Emulation

Why do Americans participate in idolic worship of celebrities?

People have a natural desire to imitate those they look up to, "to yearn to be intimate with them, if not desire to actually become one of them", in order to move from the painful, profane world they live in to the sacred sanctum of the stars (Laderman, 72). The thought is that by worshiping Oprah or Michael Jordan we can somehow find true salvation in their messages.

The creation of a shrine to Michael Jackson by a devoted fanatic is not simply a means in which he can worship Jackson's memory on earth through an "enduringly provocative" image, it is a way in which he can escape his current situation and enter a highly sacred realm devoid of everyday problems (Maniura, 55). The process of worshiping a celebrity can lead to higher levels of emulation and idolatry as well, processes in which people physically re-conform their bodies and lives, spending thousands of dollars at times to look like Kim Kardashian or George Clooney. This "pursuit of physical beauty, the attainment of fame and wealth, and the desire to be loved by adoring fans" in accordance to the celebrity "way of life" is a way in which people try to divine find purpose and meaning, much like how Christians seek to find purpose to life in the way that Jesus lived (Laderman, 74).

Idolic worship of celebrities is more than a desire to be like them, it is a yearning to become them so that one can "transcend current life circumstances" and uncover the sacred realities that only celebrities hold (Laderman, 76).