Image is everything. Obey your media.
Posted on 01/16/2009 7:01:09 AM PST by Niuhuru
They’re rich, they’re famous and they’re better than you are. Why? Because they’re famous, and that means they’re entitled to it.
Meritocracy is the fundamental difference between a functional free nation and a society of elite classes that don’t work, don’t accomplish anything useful-- but nevertheless rule. Meritocracy insures a system where those who can do, do. Systems of entitlement insure that those who have no useful skills or abilities tell others what to do, or collect money from them.
And that is what we truly mean when we say “Free Country”, not a country without laws, but a country without limits to personal accomplishment. (A concept now nearly incomprehensible to generations weighed down by a sense of entitlement).
Celebrity however is the democratization of monarchy making it seemingly accessible to everyone. It creates an elite powerful class that has no useful skills, produces nothing but styles and trends, much as the original nobility did. It is a leisure class, famous for being famous, entitled by virtue of some quirk of personal magnetism or appearance or fractional talent, to subvert the democratic process and replace the voices of many, with one voice.
(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” - Harry Warner
Given most celebrities are in sports or entertainment and had to bust their butts to get to the top of their field, and that people pay money to see them perform, saying they have no useful skills is rather absurd.
It is sad how so many in America worship these ‘celebrities’. Celebrity is what got Obama into the White House. To this day, the vast majority of those who voted for him have no clue what his positions on issues are. They just remember the carefully orchestrated appearances and the chants of ‘hope’ and ‘change’.
—They’re rich, they’re famous and they’re better than you are.—
Sounds like the United States Senate!
There seems to be an echo from this forum.
Compared to the military, teachers, health care workers, police. . .I'd say their skills are pretty useless. Basically, they do no more for us as individuals than a computer game, working in our flower gardens or a book - they distract us from real life for awhile. In that light, wouldn't you say that the worship of these individuals is a little misplaced?
If the natural leaders of society do not lead, a vacuum is created.
The market tends to define useful.
In that light, wouldn't you say that the worship of these individuals is a little misplaced?
I think that people who worship celebrities are idjusts. However, that does not change the fact that top actors and sports figures have highly useful skills as far as making a very good living. Or should we leave it up to a government commission as to what they should be paid, given that the market obviously is wrong in determining their large paychecks?
I would consider Obama a “celebrity,” and he wants to be a monarch.
Do you think the ability to sell is a useful or useless skill?
That might have been true years ago,but not now.Most of them DID NOT bust their butts to get where they are. In fact,they don’t know what hard times are. John Wayne was a geese herder on the set of a John Ford movie before he was discovered.Many of the actors and actresses of days gone by held jobs such as working in five & dimes and slinging hash in some little greasy-spoon dive someplace before hitting it big.Even the so-called “sports heroes” of today are so coddled and babied they don’t have a clue as to what it takes to get to the top.
JMHO....
Image is everything. Obey your media.
Not monarchy but certainly aristocracy. Look at Caroline Kennedy. Or any of the Hollywood mannequins. People faint at the sight of them but the fact is, these are largely people unworthy of praise. They are vain, vacuous, and incompetent, but their elevated station earns them a credibility they don’t deserve.
Are you familiar with the job market for actors?
There are 10,000 applicants for each opening. Most of them work as waiters or in retail.
I guess you are not familiar with the training regimine of most professional atheletes. Or the long hours actors put in on sets on the way up, and all the training and schooling they go through to develop performance skills.
I think it's nuts how much the top performers are paid. But I ain't the one cutting their paychecks, so I don't have a whole lotta say in the matter.
tell me, how much do you suppose hollywood has contributed to economy?
there’s all the jobs created just to make a movie. more jobs promoting it. the jobs created to construct and maintain soundstages, props, lighting, sound.. then there’s the thaters, concessions, dvd stores, retail stores for the tvs, dvd players, etc.
and don’t forget about licensed merchandise- toys, shirts, books, stickers, cereals, candies, costumes, etc.
and the technology push. movies like star wars and tron inspired major leaps in graphics. costs of tech go down because of the research done so people can watch movies.
actors are salemen, promoters, and inspirators. maybe they can’t farm a field, but they inspire. that’s a very useful skill.
In “usefull skills” one has the world USEFULL and the world SKILL....
Most of the “celebrities” have useless fake skills.
“CELEBRITY” means people who are promoted by the medias spotlights because they fit with the PC trend
What is going to be interesting is what will happen to them in the current economic downturn. I go to one movie a year - usually a Pixar animated film (although I did go to the movie “An American Carol” to lend my support to the Hollywood Conservatives). That’s it. I don’t even buy DVD’s - I wait for the movie to show up on HBO or Showtime. Anyone think that when faced with renting the DVD for 3.99 in six months or paying $25+ for two people to see a movie NOW that people will opt for the latter and just save the $20?
Wonder if those stars will be able to command $17 million for three months’ work then?
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