The cult of celebrity

The cult of celebrity. It’s everywhere. I refer to the notion of “celebrities” being news for the sake of being celebrities. Witness the popularity of shows like Australian Idol, Big Brother, The Biggest Loser, and so on. Little (or big) people suddenly becoming instant “celebrities.

I use the word celebrity ever so loosely. I’m not sure what we’re celebrating. Sure, they might be celebrating the fact they got themselves on the box, in the trash magazines and on radio. But what for? What have the done for us? Have they enriched anyone’s life? Well, maybe some have. Perhaps those fatties sweating off the pounds have insipred someone to do the same. That’s noble. But for the most part they are a bunch of no-talent nobidies.

Which bring me (in a roundabout way) to Elle Macpherson, the Aussie “super model” (love that term) who recently released another range of underwear. There she was on the tele, on the once-venerable Current Affair, no less, spruiking her wares to a suitably-impressed reporter, who probably wished he was tracking down Osama Bin Laden.

Elle’s another of those who seems to do nothing productive in particular but make millions. There’s also our Jennifer Hawkins, Naomi Campbell, etc. Elle has a great management and PR team, for sure. They make her credible (almost).

As an example of what they’ve got to work with, she said in response to one of those try-hard deep and meangiful questions (though how meaningful you can get with a supermodel is debatable): “I am what I am.” Hmmm. Aren’t we all?

I guess Elle lovely Aussie ambassador that she is, is never going to study philosophy; though I guess we can all do our share of navel gazing (at her).

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