Celebrities, Narcissism and you (Pt. 1)

A long time ago, according to Greek mythology, there was a fellow who fell in love with his own image reflected on a pool of water. That's where the term ' narcissism came from. Mayo Clinic says “narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration. Those with narcissistic personality disorder believe that they're superior to others and have little regard for other people's feelings. But behind this mask of ultra-confidence lies a fragile self-esteem, vulnerable to the slightest criticism”. (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS00652)

                                                  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism)

I recently watched a British documentary titled Starsuckers  ”… as a series of five lessons on fame in the modern world: how children are persuaded that fame is something they want, how television and the media reinforces the importance of celebrity and the efforts to attain it, how the mind and body reinforces our need to follow the activities of well-known people and strive to join their number, how the press became addicted to celebrity coverage, and how the art of promoting fame has led to celebrities and their handlers controlling the press instead of the press having say”. (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/starsuckers/). The link below is a trailer of the documentary.

Reality television is a genre which arguably sets to document real events occurring in real time, happening to real people. With the current trend of reality shows all over our televisions screens, where does that leave you?

After having watched this documentary, it cemented the questions I already had in my mind about celebrity culture and how the media portrays it and subsequently what effect it has on the human mind. I’m not a psychologist or doctor so I can’t analyze the effects thereof. What I do know is how media messages are constructed. Let’s take an example of “ Toddlers and Tiaras “ that airs on TLC. Toddler and Tiaras is show about beauty pageants for young children. The first question is does a child even fathom what she is doing? The second one is what is that particular parent trying to teach the child. The third is, what about your child that is watching that show and all of a sudden wants to take part because he/she sees other children doing it and it looks cool? I can’t deny that it has entertainment value, the children’s personalities are hilarious to say the least.

 (http://www.expressimpress.org/2013/03/18/toddlers-tiaras-what-is-our-world-coming-to/)

 

Now, with being told how ‘ cool ‘ it is to be a celebrity and the things afforded to you, does that not leave you with an inkling feeling to emulate that the more you watch these shows? I mean dress code/ fashion trends, hairstyles, attitude and behavioral patterns?

Think critically about it….where does it leave you?