Does celebrity culture make us superficial and lazy?

 Modern celebrity culture could be seen to make us superficial and lazy. With reality TV shows such as The Only Way is Essex, Made in Chelsea and Keeping up with the Kardashians, it is now very, very easy gain celebrity status. These kinds of reality TV shows glamourize these people’s lives, and they show these people going about their normal days, what they do on the weekend and very basic things as them going to the hairdressers etc. and makes these things into a TV show. The people on these kind of shows generally have little talent/show little talent in these shows, yet they are considered as much of a celebrity, and often bigger celebrities as people such as Olympic athletes.

As a large majority of people watch these kinds of reality TV, it could be considered to make us superficial and lazy as we are shown an ‘ideal’ situation of how to make a lot of money and gain celebrity status. As we can see that these types of people are not having to do anything or have any talent to become as big as musicians and athletes etc. it could present us with an easy and quick way to get rich, instead of having to work and study hard.

Kim Kardashian, from the American reality TV show, Keeping up with the Kardashians was reported by New York Post as the highest-paid television reality star of 2010, as was estimated to have earned $6,000,000 from the show and endorsements for products. Kim Kardashian only came to fame after a tape of her and her ex-boyfriend Ray J was released in 2007. Following on from the media attention she got from this tape, Kim then released her first perfume in 2009. Just from a sex tape getting into the media attention, Kim Kardashian then earned enough money and enough publicity to start her own product lines for various things, which may make us more superficial and lazy, as Kim is proof that you don’t need to work hard for wealth and fame, and this could be considered the ideal lifestyle to a lot of people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28lF32sbg7A&feature=fvst

This clip is from The Only Way is Essex and shows James Argent and Mark Wright in a Jewellers discussing what watch Mark is going to buy. The two men are represented as having a lot of money, as the Jeweller quotes Mark £3700 for a Rolex, and he accepts to pay this price, which also suggests that are willing to waste money and have enough to buy anything they like.
Mark could be seen as a stereotypical 'essex man.' He obviously takes care of his appearance, and is trying to persuade James to buy a watch to 'be a bit smart.' The fact that this small, and insignificant scene is involved in the programme, suggests that the programme is built up around unimportant events of people who are considered celebrities with lots of money for very little reason.