Heroes, Heroines and Celebrities
Characteristics of Heroes and Heroines in Popular Culture
The characteristics of heroes in popular culture can differ from the usual defined traits of heroes. A hero is generally defined as a person who is brave, intelligent, strong, moralistic, a martyr, fearless in battle, a fighter for a cause or a combination of all of these factors (Defining Heroes and Villians in Literature, Pop Culture and Current Events). Moral examples also are also what describe someone as a hero or heroine, when their deeds exemplify courage and self-sacrifice.
Characteristics of Celebrities
Celebrities have notoriety for various reasons and circumstances. Celebrities can be persons who possess a prominent profile due to their professions, such as the entertainment field, or being a public figure, while others are sports figures, or may be known because of reality shows. Some are well known simply because they are wealthy, some are known because of their connections to others, while others are famous for just creating attention in the media. Very often celebrities are automatically stereotyped as being wealthy and living a glamorous life.
The Cult of Celebrity
People are undeniably obsessed with celebrities, and often follow their every move and statement made on Twitter, Facebook, tabloids and entertainment reporting site for example. Celebrity worship in some ways is a reflection of a need or desire for societies to elevate them to a mythical status and foster a sense that they are perfect, have extremely exciting lives and have ‘magical’ powers of a sort. The cult of the celebrity is a huge influence on people’s thinking and creates a sense of envy in people, to the point that they believe celebrity life has no negative sides to it. It is a held belief by some that people’s worshipping of celebrities even helps to encourage narcissism in celebrities. It is further believed that narcissism of celebrities becomes accepted in society and...