Achieving Celebrity: An Anthropological Examination of Why We Consume and Desire Fame

Celebrities hold a power over society as they captivate and hold members' attentions through the coverage of their daily activities and lives. Explained through Weber's concept of charisma and charismatic authority, Brim's description of the "fame motive", and changes in mediation, the desire to achieve fame and be in the presence of it has, and continues to, evolve through time. The Internet and the genre of Reality TV have allowed for the pathway to fame to be perceived as now traveling through the ordinary, rather than the extraordinary. 21st century celebrities, including the Kardashians, Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin, and Charlie Sheen, encourage this new, yet flawed, idea that every person is capable of achieving stardom. However ordinary they may seem, these celebrities have connected their extraordinary qualities to this desire for celebrity interaction by utilizing intellectual property laws and creating marketable brands that are sold to their fan bases.

Author

• Gerold, Elizabeth Ann

Language

• en

Keyword

• Charisma
• Celebrity
• Technology
• Media
• Fame

Date created

• 2012

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Anthropology

Degree

• M.A.

Advisor

• Dent, Alexander S

Committee Member(s)

• Allen, Catherine

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/79407x312