By Prakhar Patidar
Famous people are all around us. Some are known for their genius, some for their wealth, some for their talents, and some for their ill doings. At least, that was the traditional categorisation. A few decades back, one could demarcate different kinds of fame; x person was famous for their bravery, y was infamous for their crimes, z for their talent. As more and more mediums to be in the public eye appeared, from the print media to the internet, fame became a diversified terrain taking celebrity culture to another level.
Not all kinds of fame turn you into a celebrity. Celebrityhood is a certain kind of fame that comes from being a personality of interest to the masses. This interest and admiration are used to churn out every detail of the celebrity's life (and even death) to keep the masses engaged. It also serves a consumerist purpose by turning celebrities into brands that influence our materialist interests. We keep an eye out for any news on our favourite celebrities. We often buy things they vouch for. It is this culture of a one-sided engagement between the masses and a famous person and the influence they can have on the masses which is defined as celebrity culture.
Personalities from the entertainment industry and sports dominate celebrity culture. They are not only admired for their work but set aspirations for a lifestyle one must aspire for. If we only consider the entertainment industry, a few decades back there were countable personalities who could be deemed stars. This culture of fame has boomed exponentially bringing to us not only film stars but television, reality, youtube, radio and internet personalities too.
Social media acts as our main mode of interaction with celebrities. Social media may have started with the vision of shrinking the world into a space where communities can be built but these days, it seems like you are either an influencer or a follower. The question is can there be too many celebrities? With a rising number of influencers and a lot, many people are bordering close to the sanctified sphere of celebrityhood that is required one to be backed by genus, talent or wealth.
Though it might seem like there can be, then the answer is no. Does being famous count when too many people are famous? Fame and celebrityhood may go hand in hand to a certain extent but not in the sense as they used to originally.