Assignment 4-2

INTRODUCTION

            According to Merriam-Webster, a hero is a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with a great strength or ability (Merriam-Webster, 2013). Also according to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a celebrity is a famous or celebrated person (2013). By definition, the difference between a hero and a celebrity is that a hero is, essentially, a celebrity that is mythological or legendary and is also endowed with some sort of strength or ability. This paper will examine the differences and similarities of heroes and celebrities, especially as those terms apply to popular culture, more in depth.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

            Purely from definition, we see that the two primary similarities between heroes and celebrities are that both of them are celebrated by many people and achieve a particular level of pop culture fame. Both heroes and celebrities tend to be widely recognized amongst an entire race, nation, or even the world in today’s society. However, in my opinion and in most popular culture today, a hero is not necessarily famous. A hero can be a term applied on an individual level, meaning that a person that is a hero to you may not be a hero to me and vice versa. Contrary to the separation of heroism and stardom, a celebrity may also be a hero. For example, Warren Buffet achieved fame from his wild success in business, held a celebrity status in the business world, and is also now seen as a hero to many after his decision to donate 90% of his wealth to charity before he dies. Buffet illustrates how one may leverage their celebrity status to become a hero in the eyes of many but the inverse is also often true, as many heroes achieve celebrity status.

IMPORTANCE AND FUNCTION

            Having a hero can be very important to all people but especially to children, who are impressionable and in need of good-morale role models. Heroes often play an important role of mentor in society and popular culture, as they can provide larger scale examples of moral judgments and accomplishments than most parents are able to provide. Perhaps the largest example of a hero playing these roles in the lives of both children and adults is Jesus Christ. With over 6 billion bibles printed and most of their owners turning to Jesus Christ for moral guidance, I would say Christ is one of the most significant heroes of all time, whether he is fiction or non (Bible statistics, 2013).

CULT OF CELEBRITY

            One of my personal favorite topics to bash (and one of the easiest) is the cult of celebrity, which is the religious following of celebrities by masses, and the principle of people being “famous for being famous”. In modern popular culture, it seems that most of the most recognized celebrities are the ones with zero to little talent. Today’s celebrities are either famous for being famous (Kardashian) or a product of the industry that created the fame for the individual simply because the marketing executives knew they could (Bieber). Allow me to explain. Kim Kardashian and many other reality television stars have no real talent or skill sets that have made them famous. They are often launched into the public eye because of an association to someone with real talent or simply due to their inherited wealth. Alternatively, in the case of Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and other child stars, it was a marketable look that a production company knew they could commercialize and push to millions of overzealous fans.

REFERENCES

Bible statistics. In (2013). Gideon. Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/bibles-printed/

Merriam-Webster. (2013). Celebrity- definition. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/celebrity

Merriam-Webster. (2013). Hero- definition. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hero