CULTURE

The Myth of Celebrity Ascendency

Could you handle the strains of social media if you were famous?

Let’s play a game. A little mental exercise, if you will. Let’s pretend you’re famous.

Let’s assume for a moment that someone was able to go through a large portion of everything you’ve ever said publicly for the past decade, including all your private emails, texts and social media posts, as well as comments you made to friends and colleagues, and then published them, out of context, for the world to see and pass judgement on.

Would you still be the pillar of your community, friends with your current friends, on good terms with family, accepted in all your social circles? Would you even still be employable by a company not interested in controversy, now that you’ve labeled a racist, sexist, bigot, misogynist, zealot, or pervert?

I’d guess that a lot of you reading this would answer quickly, that nothing would change for you, that you’re not a monster, that you’ve done nothing wrong, that you have nothing to fear, and nothing to hide. And you don’t actually use social media all that much.

And maybe that’s true. But I’d bet good money that it’s not. Regardless of whether not you think that’s true. For one thing, it’s unlikely that you have people with microphones, everywhere you go, listening to what you have to say.

The standard for famous people, celebrities of one sort or another, elected officials and people otherwise in the public eye, is far different than it is for regular folk. We hold celebrities to a different standard for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that we don’t feel sorry for anyone who chose to be rich and famous. The other reason is we assume they have advanced knowledge concerning dealing with the media, or if not themselves per se, a whole team of paid consultants paid to craft their message.

I’m not here to defend celebrity culture, but to shine on a light on the changing dynamic of media in our culture. The irony of all the pearl-clutching over the various biases or presumed corruption of the mainstream media, is that it is the democratization of the news, not the death throws of the establishment, that has caused all this angst and turmoil in our society.

There was a time when men and women of honor decided what was fit for public consumption and what was not. “All the news that’s fit to print” proclaimed the New York Times. The inference being, that lessor papers printed articles that were ethically dubious, or lacking civic value. Prurient, salacious topics not worthy of the public eye. There were things the public needed to know and there were things best kept private.

This wasn’t all humanitarian in nature. There was a good old boys club of power and influence that ensured the peace. Men were men and boys would be boys. Women, children and ethnic minorities were not to be trusted, but protected against their own best judgements. Power itself maintained its own moral code that was apart from the sphere of public morality. So it was not a perfect system, by any measure.

But there was a system in place, professional gatekeepers, that at the very least, were legally responsible and accountable for what they published. This barely exists anymore. Fox News and it’s lessor counterparts in the right wing media ecosystem have no deference to the truth, or even to the law it seems. But worse, everyone with a Facebook or twitter account is a “civilian journalist.” Anyone with a blog has a platform. Even me.

But the greatest threat to free speech and pluralistic societies is not coming from the conservative right-wing, but from the woke left. For one thing, outrage sells newspapers, or more importantly, instigates clicks, which drives profit and fame. And no one sells outrage like the progressive left, especially if the target of the perceived slight is white, straight, or male. But regardless of who it is, it becomes a dog pile of both establishment media, self-proclaimed media stars, and everyone with a social media account and the ability to type.

But it’s not just that everyone has a voice. No. It’s that there is no statute of limitations on what anyone says, writes or does. There is no context for previous bad behavior. No ability to grow and learn. No contextual understanding of evolving culture or shifting mores.

“You said this, back then, and now we find it offensive.”

It’s not just that we are establishing an endless memory for possible misdeeds, or that everyone has the ability to weigh in, regardless of their knowledge or expertise, but that there is just so much more public content available. Our lives have been digitized and put on display and the younger people, who have grown up this way, seem to have no tolerance or patience for those who did not.

Half the population is still trying to figure out how to program their VCR, not even realizing that no one is using DVDs anymore, or that everything is streaming.

The constant surveillance, whether it’s our phones listening, our doorbells watching, dash cams and traffic light monitors, your kid’s school-loaned laptop, or your work computer that is spying on you. They’re all eroding whatever privacy you might have felt you once had.

We’re all out there in public all the time. This is true. But very few of us have to deal with the level or scrutiny that we assume comes with notoriety. Whether you ask for it or not, once the public shines its light on you, no one is safe.

We believe that celebrities shouldn’t be above the law, should have to follow the same rules as everyone else. But we also believe that they have less right to privacy than we do because they made a choice to profit off their celebrity.

But how many people do you know that would be publicly destroyed if a national news reporter knew half of what you know about the things they’ve said and written and posted. Could they withstand the intense heat of that level of scrutiny? How possible would it be for you to be caught up in the scandal? Maybe a spicy email exchange or that text message rant made in jest. Would you be able to explain to the world that you were only joking? Would anyone care?

Or would you just be cancelled?