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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page critique of the article by Thomas O’Guinn. The author’s desperation to find an explanation of why celebrities are so important to our culture leads him to questionable conclusions. No additional sources are listed.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: AM2_PPcelebrity.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Fan Club" author Thomas OGuinn attempts to assess the American fascination with celebrities. He contends that every social class in our great nation is afflicted to one degree or
another with a preoccupation with celebrities, their lifestyles, and their latest exploits. This affliction comes with its own consumer culture as well. OGuinn estimates that fan clubs boast
a membership of some one million. Tourism too is driven by our fascination with celebrities. Graceland, for example, has hosted over five million tourists (OGuinn). Celebrity
homes and even cemeteries serve as tourist magnets as well. OGuinns article, however, is not a truly coherent analysis of the effect that celebrities have on our culture.
It attempts to address the question of why they have this effect but it falls far short of doing so. OGuinn
works toward an answer to the question of why celebrities are such powerfully important individuals in our culture by first delving into the literature on the matter. First, equating
them with heroes, OGuinn traces the celebrity back into history to Homeric legends. In modern times, however, we have lost many of our heroes. Indeed, even God is
given a lesser status as society reasons Him away and turns instead to science and technology. OGuinn laments that this trend, as the literature observes as well, is in
effect creating a "vacuum of anxiety" (p. 156). The suggested remedy for that vacuum is the creation of more heroes. Obviously, the
approach utilized above to explain the importance of celebrities in modern culture is somewhat of a circuitous argument. OGuinn himself recognizes this fact and moves on to a second
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