The cult of the celebrity

They are even more annoying when referred to as 'slebs', don't you think, Katek? No, none of them have ever affected my life. The hairdresser handed me some magazines yesterday while I was waiting. As I leafed through the pages of 'sleb' pictures I realised that most of them I had never even heard of! Must be my age, I suppose.....

I sort of miss Jade Goody.
She helped to highlight the importance of cervical cancer screenings.

soon

She was on the telly the other night on an old panel game [the ones they show on Dave] and it seemed really strange seeing her. She was probably one of the people responsible for young girls assuming they can just 'become' rich and famous and not have to get an education or a job.

She had her good points too. I must admit that I had forgotten some of her bad behaviour. I think that her heart was in the right place.
Perhaps it is best not to be speaking in this way of someone who has died.

Is/was Jade Goody an exception? She didn't influence my life, but I believe that cervical screening figures rose after her death so she influenced others A positive legacy

Oprah gave me a habit that has stood me in good stead in bad times = list what you are grateful for. Guess it's like count your blessings -but Oprah said it when i was ready to listen. Thanks Oprah!

As a teenager my home life was pretty horrendous. When The Beatles came along they brought something lovely into my life. Myself and a group of friends were pretty obsessed with them. We saw them live several times. I have many lovely stories to tell. I won a competition to sit on stage with them. I have a photo of this. We had a chat with George On another occasion. Nowadays when any Beatles anniversary comes along I am sometimes asked to chat about my experiences on local radio. The photo I mentioned sometimes appears in our local paper. They didn't change my life but improved it and made it more interesting.

I think some of the celebs of the 60s,like the Beatles and the Stones, were perhaps catalysts, or enablers, for change.
I'm not saying they were responsible for the changes of that decade but they were part of it and helped to us the confidence to be different from our parents' generation.
Bob Dylan and Joan Baez too.
Except of course they weren't thought of as celebrities then!

Crossed posts katy
Yes I think they improved our lives - I would much rather have grown up in the 60's than any other decade

Me too jane

I think we should remember the "matinee idols" of our mothers' generation. Or "screen" idols such as Clark Gable or Rita Hayward. Not so very different from the "slebs (sorry!) of today, just there are so many more and because of the growth of the media and its influence on the general population , more young people in particular aspire to their lifestyle. Oh and reality TV and talent(?) shows such as BGT, The Voice and that dreadful Big Brother.

But in those days there weren't all these sad B and C list people desperately trying to be important, with little cause, were there?

Suppose Jade Goody was one of them, even if at the end she did something useful. As Tegan she was one of those who probably encouraged the "celebrity" culture of being famous by doing nothing.

Yes I think the difference was that while people may have dreamed about their screen idol or whoever, nowadays they think they can be famous, just for being famous! Who was it said we would all have our 15 minutes of fame -Andy Warhol? And dreadful TV reality shows just pander to the mindset. Jeremy Kyle

There is a difference between actors, musicians, etc. who have become famous for doing something, even if you don't like what they do, and people who just seek publicity because they want publicity. I don't think my life has been changed by either group.

And what in the world is a "star of reality television'? Has the term 'star' lost all meaning?

A star of reality TV - Kim Kardashian, she of the big a**e. Why on earth should the young look up to someone who is famous for being famous? But they do!

In a weird way the Perfumo affair changed my life. I was about 17 at the time and bore a passing resemblance to Christine Keeler who was a few years older.

My parents were treating me as if I was a kid and the photographs of Christine Keeler made them look at me in a different way.

Of course The Beatles, The Stones and The Kinks changed my life forever.

'Perfumo'? Sounds like a continental clown... it was Jack Profumo who was involved in that (regrettably enjoyable) mess...

Sorry yes - Profumo - up early bit dazed. Profumo became a changed character after that and did lots of good work for charities.

Falconbird/feetlebaum......that's given me a good start to my day!! Perfumo the clown!!

Yes absent there is a big difference between those people who may have greatly changed people's lives through their music, their acting talent, their writing, and I thought that your story katyk was lovely, how wonderful to have been part of that time and to have found some escape from other horrid aspects of your childhood ( hope I dont sound patronising, I dont mean to!). But, and it is a big but, there are people who are just famous for being famous, and those who cannot tell the difference between being famous and infamous, as long as they are on the pages of tabloid publications.

Thank you Gill - no it doesn't sound patronising at all. Those Beatles times were lovely and I now have something to look back on that was nice amid all the not so nice. I agree there are a lot of 'wannabes' around now.

There is a difference between those who become celebrities because of their talent; and those who for some unknown reason become so because they happened to appear on a reality TV show, but have no talent whatsoever; or happen to be rich.