Last Century's Celebrity Culture by Elayne Rapping
The death of the old Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor means the celebrity culture of the previous century, when film studios were in complete control of their stars' images, has come to its end.
In those days, stars were on a pedestal and although not infallible, they did not constantly fall victims to insatiable, omnipresent media. Nowadays celebrietes are constantly chased by paparazzi, both professional and amateur, and their most private moments become exposed to the world and usually blown out ot propotion.
However, no matter how much modern stars complain about it, it does not make their life harder - in fact, it usually helps them with their careers. Those who, like Keanu Reeves, do not want such fame, are perfectly capable of avoiding it. Others, like Charlie Sheen, seem to deliberately feed their scandalous reputation and treat it as a springboard to the next stage of their professional life.
Still, one may long for the good old days when celebrity meant beauty and its sins were invisible.
Vocabulary:
- foible (n, countable) - a minor fault in someone's character or behavior (usually plural): We all have our little foibles. He was amused by the foibles of his eccentric neighbor.
- ubiquity (n, unconutable, formal)- the state of being everywhere at once (or seeming to be everywhere at once): the ubiquity of the company's ads; Our fixation on busy -- the ubiquity of keeping, staying, being, appearing busy -- seems to me a symptom of our societal obsession with productivity.
- to hound (v) - to chase or bother (someone or something) in a constant or determined way ▪ He is being hounded by the press. ▪ They hounded me with questions. ▪
- booster (n) - action or substance that makes something stronger or more effective; something that helps or encourages someone or something: These exercises are real metabolism boosters.l A sincere compliment can be a true confidence booster.
- voyeur (n, countable) - : a person who gets sexual pleasure from secretly watching other people have sex or a person who likes seeing and talking or writing about something that is considered to be private: political voyeurs; Surely no one with any compassion would want to play voyeur with such disgusting deprivation.
- multitude (n, countable) - a great number of things or people (often + of): A vast multitude waited to hear the news. A multitude of complaints reached the office.
- luminous (adj) - producing or seeming to produce light, brightly lit, very bright in color: I saw the cat's luminous eyes in my car's headlights. The room was luminous with sunlight.
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