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I just don't get the cult of celebrity.
People who make music I might read their wiki page to find out what their background is, but i couldn't give a toss if they are eating a donut in a bikini in a nightclub (or some other tripe).
I am the same with writers, actors i care less about , what is the deal with people drinking up every bit of salacious or mundane gossip they can get about "stars".

The cult of celebrity gets at it's weirdest to me with oprah/ellen degeneres, what is the need to scream like your 8 hours into labour everytime she does something?

Do you guys enjoy the gossip?
Any sociology people want to explain why people get into it so much?
Any amusing stories of obsessed people you have known?

Different strokes for different folks.
Some people like to know even the most famous are still human. Others take pride in being such a big fan (Or even the biggest fan) of their star that they know everything. It's likely there are dozens more reasons (Bonding with friends over sharing a mutual interest for one)

I love gossip, dunno why.

I studied sociology - and while on an academic level, I can almost see why it happens, I can't for the life of me understand why it does.

I didn't finish the degree, though. I discovered that getting a job that paid would feed me better. Principles are one thing, but they don't fill ya belly.

My opinion on celebrities in one simple quote:

Actors and celebrities should be kept in kennels when not actively being used. Sort of like show dogs. Pretty to look at but usually completely untrainable. -Fal-chan

I don't get the mass fascination with them, but I suppose given what they're paid they should be constantly entertaining in one form or another. Useless gakheads.

 KalashnikovMarine wrote:

Actors and celebrities should be kept in kennels when not actively being used. Sort of like show dogs. Pretty to look at but usually completely untrainable. -Fal-chan

I don't get the mass fascination with them, but I suppose given what they're paid they should be constantly entertaining in one form or another. Useless gakheads.

You know there are celebrities that aren't entertainers, or even politicians for that matter, right? David Petraeus is a great example. Then of course there's Henry Kissinger, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Paul Krugman, Ezra Klein, William F. Buckley, Jr., Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Hawking, etc. Certainly entertainers and politicians tend to command greater celebrity, but that's likely because entertainment and politics has a much wider appeal than, say, popular physics.

I also think you're being overly dismissive of the value of entertainment.

They were all on big brother right?

Celebrity is the down fall of society.

Fixating on an individual is not healthy. The gossip mag's here in the UK make me dispare and the women in offices up and down the land discussing Cheryl Coles new tattoo as tho they spoke with her in the pub the night before disturbs me greatly.

I dont understand it, and I never will. Shame it'll never go away.

 deejaybainbridge wrote:
Celebrity is the down fall of society.

There have always been celebrities in one form or another, and yet, here we are, not down falling.

People have always been famous and therefore more attractive to the public, it's nothing new.

Salacious gossip sells so put the two together and bang! We have what passes for allot of modern journalism.

The problem isn't so much the celebs but the gakkers that write about them ad nauseum.

 deejaybainbridge wrote:
Celebrity is the down fall of society.

Fixating on an individual is not healthy. The gossip mag's here in the UK make me dispare and the women in offices up and down the land discussing Cheryl Coles new tattoo as tho they spoke with her in the pub the night before disturbs me greatly.

I dont understand it, and I never will. Shame it'll never go away.

Agreed. It's sad to know that people choose to spend their waking hours fawning over people they will most likely never meet or talk to instead of enriching their own lives.

 Ahtman wrote:

 deejaybainbridge wrote:
Celebrity is the down fall of society.

There have always been celebrities in one form or another, and yet, here we are, not down falling.

he-he, are you sure about that!

Go back 50 years and everyone knew their neighbours, manners still existed between strangers, People used to say good morning to you in the street. Non of that happens anymore.

People care less for those next to them and more about the actress on Eastenders who's found out her boyfriend is cheating.

People are social animals. We (mostly), deal with things best when interfacing with them through other people. Celebrities help put the broader world in a human context and give us something resembling a common social group with people we wouldn't otherwise have one with.

I mean ultimately all humans are still just bunch of savannah apes with brains built around small groups, the hardware can't even handle more than ~100 people. Having a few famous people is a great tool for potentially dealing with 1000s of people in our lifetimes.

 deejaybainbridge wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:

 deejaybainbridge wrote:
Celebrity is the down fall of society.

There have always been celebrities in one form or another, and yet, here we are, not down falling.

he-he, are you sure about that!

Go back 50 years and everyone knew their neighbours, manners still existed between strangers, People used to say good morning to you in the street. Non of that happens anymore.

People care less for those next to them and more about the actress on Eastenders who's found out her boyfriend is cheating.

50 years ago there was Elvis, Jonny Cash and any number of music and film superstars.

Black and white didn't mean no celebrity.

Vogue magazine has been running for over 120 years as well.

I suppose the spotlight has never been so big though, so naturally it will shine on more dross than before (I'm looking at ou reality tv!).

 deejaybainbridge wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:

 deejaybainbridge wrote:
Celebrity is the down fall of society.

There have always been celebrities in one form or another, and yet, here we are, not down falling.

he-he, are you sure about that!

Yes. Travel is faster, food is more available, science and medicine are making new discoveries every day, people live longer, and receive more education. Not enough to make them realize the engineering and technological marvel of using a computer and communicating over a series of tubes that many would not see as a sign of humanity failing, of course. Or perhaps not enough to know that their completely idyllic and bs ideas of the past (oh, say the 50's) aren't real, but generally speaking, we are more educated. Now what hasn't changed is people having a desire to disparage others to make themselves feel superior. It is almost never justified, but it is what they need to get through the day. I suppose it is some deep seeded sadness that drives them to put others down to build themselves up, even going so far as to turn something truly meaningless into signpost for the decline of mankind.

I never understood it either.
I vist quite a bit of sites, one i go too is about mothers and parenting(Some good articles occasionally pop up on there that are thought provoking)
They obbsess over the royal pregnancy. Overly obsess about it that someone had to put up a satirical article about it. Not just that, but celebrity babies and such.
My guess, is that somehow its a form of escapism, like ours wargaming, living their lives through someone else, maybe just pretending that they are Princess Kate, or Will Smith.

The idea that celebrity fascination is causing the downfall of society is nonsense. There have been celebrities forever, yet here we are, still kicking.