Why Britney Spears is doing the Western world a favour

For as long as I've been conscious of it, I've always been bemused by celebrity. What is it that makes us so interested in people that are particularly successful in the professions of acting, singing, and other forms of public presentation and creative expression? What is it that motivates so many of us to care enough about this particular group of people that such a massive part of media representation can afford to be concerned with their day-to-day lives and tribulations?

The obvious answer is identification, i.e. we want to be them, or attraction, i.e. we want to be with them. But I'm not so sure that it's as simple as that. It is by now a cliche, a truism, that celebrity is not all that it's cracked up to be. Everybody with two or more brain cells knows that there's something behind the glitz and the glamour that doesn't correspond very well with the surface imagery. If you're a straight guy and you wish you were Brad Pitt because he's rich, famous and loved by millions of women, you have to acknowledge an awareness of the darker side of fame - difficulty sustaining relationships, inability to mix properly with most of the rest of society, constant surveillance, and so on. If you're a straight girl and you wish you were with Mr. Pitt, you'd have to try to ignore the occasional rumours that he's a bit of a dickhead in real life. What, then, sustains the fantasy of celebrity for so many people?

A couple of themes regarding religion and material values seem to provide a possible answer. For one thing, it's undeniable that we live in a materialistic society (another truism). What this really means is that many of us value wealth, choice and acquisition highly. Given this premise, it seems natural that we'd celebrate those of us that have the most. However uncomfortable daily life is for an A-list celebrity, he or she does have a large quantity of things that we value: choice, money, and (closely related to these) power and influence.

This leads to the theme of religion. We celebrate these people becuse they're the kings and queens of the Western world (take this more or less literally when you consider those that make the jump from performing arts to politics, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan, Peter Garrett, and, in a sense, Bono). It seems to be almost immutably human to worship somebody who has the most of what one highly values.

I'd take it further still, and suggest that celebrities are deified in the West. I'm an atheist, but I (admittedly paradoxically) believe that religion is an irrevocable part of human experience. In secular societies like America, Britain, Canada, Australia and some European nations, many people will look beyond conventional religion for a supplementary source of faith and spirituality. Perhaps, then, celebrities are surrogate gods, and sites of fame like Hollywood and the stage at a rock concert are a surrogate Heaven. Most of us know that fame is a beautiful illusion, but our religious, anti-rational sensibilities encourage us to believe in the illusion anyhow. We identify with our gods; we want to be or at least be like our gods.

There's another element in the equation that I reckon holds a fair bit of sway: love. Love is another highly-valued quality that many celebrities have in large supply (love of a fickle sort, anyway). Fans of a band or musician present the clearest example. The musician is emblematic of a fan's taste in music. If the authenticity his or her talents are disputed by somebody else, the fan will often feel defensive. Fans often excuse a musician's unusual or antisocial behaviour because they are tempered by respect for his or her talent.

Respect or admiration are mistaken for love by fans and celebrities alike. Some celebrities become aloof or develop inflated egos because they perceive a sea of faces that are displaying affection for them. Aside from identification, fans want to be where the celebrity is because they often similarly perceive that the celebrity is well-loved. And who doesn't want to be well-loved?

Britney Spears painted a stark picture of a celebrity that mistook attention for love in her exhibitionistic behaviour during her tumultuous spiral into post-pop-queen despair. She's been to the top; she's had the opportunity to do what few can: peek behind the silver curtain of celebrity that burns in the back of so many western souls. Judging by her behaviour, she's all too aware of what's behind this curtain: nothing. Perhaps she understands that much of what she once aspired to really amounts to nothing.

So why is she doing the western world a favour? Well, her nihilistic behaviour is perfectly reflecting the truth that lies behind the proverbial curtain. When young, impressionable kids witness the shameful downfall of an icon of such supposed perfection, they're much more likely to question the admiration and deification that constitutes the phenomenon of celebrity.

Next post I want to talk about political extremism.