CelebriNot

       This week's discussion and class on the different varieties of celebrities made me really wonder about who I think about that is covered in the media often, and how they got to that place in our cultural world. Our class example was Kim Kardashian and family. Many people neglect to remember the fact that she rose to fame from a sex tape that was released, and only because Ray J, a more popular R&B artist at the time (arguably) was in it - it had nothing to do with Kim. Thus, we consider her a "celetoid" - or at least that's how she first arrived to us.
     Personally, I'm a fan of the new series on A&E, Duck Dynasty. This family is the reality TV version of the formerly popular Beverly Hillbillies. This deep south, redneck family has risen to the lifestyle of unseen fortune from creating a business of making duck calls. These contrasting lifestyle and amount of wealth create quite a bit of humor and draw audiences in to see what stupid thing they'll do next with their money. I guess that's all I ever considered about the show -- what the family does. I never wondered who they are. What kind of celebrity is Willie Robertson, or his beautiful wife Korie? Are they achieved celebrities because they built their own business which has completely taken off and led to their reality series?
       I feel like this is just another example of how we get so wrapped up in consuming media of any kind that we tend to not think about how the people who are making thousands of dollars to act like idiots on our television screens actually GOT there. I think it's important to remind ourselves that we don't always need to be idolizing these "glamorous" people, because more often than not, we're probably more put-together ourselves.