Celebrity Politics

In today's society, the idea of "celebrity politics" coming about was practically inevitable. With mass media, we have created a way for almost anyone to become a celebrity as well as creating a very accessible bridge for political figures to spread their influence to the public. Celebrities have become political and politicians have become celebrities; the Salon article states this new phenomenon in this way: "confusion of fame with virtue and celebrity with competence".

With celebrities already having the public's attention in the palm of their hand, they have used this to their advantage to cross over into issues outside their field and expressing their opinions, usually very actively. This crossover ranges from Angelina Jolie and AIDS prevention to Robert Redford as an environmental activist. These issues ultimately are all very positive for our world, but you can't help but question the validity of these celebrities as far as their knowledge on the subject and their actual compassion vs. just promoting their image. It is slightly frightening how just a popular name can make us believe someone is more credible than someone who if researched, is actually much more credible. In the article, Celebrity Politics, opponents to Patrick Kennedy complained "about citizens voting for the name without much substance to the record". It's scary but true that as a society we have given much power to celebrities that they are now able to influence our political world.

Politicians have also noticed the power of celebrity and used it to their advantage. Again, Celebrity Politics discusses how it is now necessary for today's politicians to hire "consultants, joke writers, speech writers, image advisors...". Today it's all about winning over the public, by any means necessary. Unfortunately this makes us question the politician's true identity from what is a staged act. Politicians becoming more into the media, also allows the media to become more involved in the lives of politicians. It never fails that Americans love good gossip, which has caused the rise of "gossip journalism". News on what a politician stands for has become inferior to what a politician does in their private life. A politician's public image has become more valuable than what they actually stand for.

The crossover between celebrity and politics that is prominent in our society is mainly a threat to the credibility of the people running our country and influencing our pop culture. The idea of a good public image has become so important that it is hard for us to distinguish what is valuable from what is staged, and also inhibits those who are actually credible but not popular from having a chance.