Celebrities Influence On Society

Joseph Gordan-Levitt, a household name in Hollywood, characterizes celebrity culture by apathy, greed and hierarchy; stating, “Celebrity does not have anything to do with art or craft. It is about being rich and thinking that you are better than everybody else” (Lidz,“From Alien Boy”). Celebrities today play an important part in society, by influencing people, shaping their beliefs and winning over their support. Public adoration allows them to act irresponsibly towards themselves and those around them, without considering the consequences of breaching the law. According to article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), "All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law (“Universal

The fan base of a celebrity is a good measure of his/her popularity and power. The broader the fan base (greater the number of admirers), the more influential a celebrity is in the society. Due to the publicity that celebrities usually get, some of these fans become more and more interested in their professional and private lives. They start idolizing them and feel as though they have a special bond with them. These people blindly follow their idols, without giving a second thought about their morals and end up developing what psychologists call the Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS). Celebrity worship syndrome (CWS) is an obsessive-addictive disorder in which a person becomes overly involved with the details of a celebrity's personal and professional life. “Psychologists at the University of Leicester, who used a celebrity worship scale to rate the problems, found that 36 per cent of people

They do this primarily by affiliating themselves with a certain political party or by endorsing candidates during election campaigns and supporting their political stances. In doing so, they form cordial bonds with candidates who are vying for a position in the office (establishing their government). These connections are beneficial for the celebrities because all the law enforcement agencies work under the government officials who have the power to influence their decision-making. It is impossible for the non-celebrities to form such relations. Hence, the application of a law might be different for a non–celebrity as compared to a celebrity because a celebrity can get away with crime by using his/her influence within the government or even the judiciary. Organizations like the United Nations (UN) also use celebrities as ambassadors. “According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director, Achim Steiner, they use them to bring to light an issue that needs to be discussed the world over” (Daily Nation, “Why the UN”). Association with programs like these builds a positive image of the celebrity in the eyes of the public. Consequently, if in the future they are alleged for a crime, people sympathize with them and plead for their cases thinking about all the good that they have done in the past as part of such programs. This