How Celebrities are Effected
Celebrity breakdowns have existed as long as the wheel but are now scrutinized and exposed to a needless degree. Media outlets such as USA Today make it incredibly easy, especially with the digital technical in this era, to find information about celebrities. The extent and quality of celebrity news in the media materializes especially inordinate today, multiplied and intensified at such a rate that legitimate news has fallen in precedence. Desired or not, the public knows more about Kim Kardashian and her love life than about many political issues. No matter how personal the topic is, the media will find a way to expose it. To maintain a particular image is made difficult by the media. Michael Jackson is arguable one of the most famous pop artists of all-time. However he had faced some scrutiny in his life, largely because of the media. His reputation was permanently tarnished, even though he was later acquitted. Artists today are terrified that this may happen to them. As stated by rapper Kendrick Lamar in the song Mortal Man, “When Shit hit the fan, is you still a fan?” (Lamar). Fans are questioned whether they would stick with him if he were to be found in a similar situation as Michael, or join in on the media turmoil. The Media has the power to turn a little hoax into a front page story. Images of many celebrities are altered by media influence. Richard Sherman has fallen victim to a false illustration created by the media. After the Seattle Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the 2014 National Football Conference (NFC) championship game, Richard Sherman claimed the title of “best cornerback in the game”, and stated that Michael Crabtree, a Wide-Receiver for the 49ers, was a “sorry receiver”. This one statement engulfed a majority of sports media for the next few days. The Monday after the game, the word "thug" was used 625 times throughout discussions about Sherman's antics on local TV and radio stations (Campbell 1). Few people knew the real story of Sherman, only what they had heard from media outlets. In fact, Sherman is a walking success story. Born in Compton, he didn't let the violent reputation of his inner-city neighborhood gnaw him away. The Seahawks superstar managed to score an impressive 1400 on the SAT and graduated from high school as salutatorian with a 4.2 grade-point average (1). From there he continued his success and graduated from Stanford with a 3.9 grade-point average and has become one of the most dominant cornerbacks in professional football within a few years (Lloyd 1). As Tupac defined it, a thug is someone who is going through struggles, has gone through struggles, and continues to live day by day with nothing for them (Thyung 1). For Sherman to be defined as this by the media to make a story is outrageous and childish. The media does not just break people down however; they can also build people up to make them seem like an angel. Justin Bieber has done many outlandish actions in his past. He has been caught peeing in a mop bucket screaming “Fuck Bill Clinton” (Sieczkowski 1) and has been arrested for DUI, driving with an expired license, and resisting an arrest (Dadds 1). However, Chris Brown referred to Bieber as “a misguided kid”, and of course the media took that and ran with it (Jozsor 1). The media has lied and stretched the truth about celebrities too many times. Of course without the media, there would not be an entity of famous people. However, an individual's reputation should not be tarnished nor created by false accusations. People deserve to be treated on how they consistently act, not just how a couple of statements claim the person to be who they are not.
Below is a sample of Kendrick Lamar's song "Mortal Man" feel free to check out the full song on iTunes.
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File Type: | m4a |
Here is footage of the Justin Bieber Incident mentioned above.
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Here is a quick song on how the media may portray celebrities.
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