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 For the Week of December 7, 2009by Rubel Shelly No, I’m not sure it is a real word. But I will stipulate a definition for you and work out from there. Celebritude is the status one achieves by moving from obscurity to notoriety by virtue of indiscretion, bad behavior, or criminal action. Celebritude should not be confused with either heroism or fame. Heroism evokes images of bravery or sacrifice for the sake of others. Thus a mother who runs into a burning building to save her child or a passerby who renders first aid to an accident victim and saves his life is a hero. Fame is a notch below heroism, it seems to me, because the achievement in question may have nothing to do with courage or skill. Some persons are famous, for example, simply because they were born to wealthy families such as the Rockefellers or Hiltons. Neither should celebritude be confused with celebrity. People in the public eye as newscasters, musicians, or athletes may be celebrities by virtue of sheer visibility. They may be more blessed than heroic, more photogenic than talented. What I have dubbed “celebritude” is a tawdry phenomenon of our time. Someone is caught in a web of activity that is legally or morally suspect and turns his or her status into a way to “cash in” on a gullible public that has what appears to be an insatiable appetite for titillating gossip and juicy scandal. More than that, people actually contrive shocking events and indecencies to get on camera. • Jon and Kate sell out their kids for a slice of celebritude. • The Octomom grosses us out with her birthing exploits for sale. • Balloon Boy’s parents force him to fake a tragedy. • A couple crashes a state dinner at the White House just to be seen. • A cocktail waitress posts her alleged affair with Tiger Woods. While there has been a great deal said about the privileged athlete, Wall Street schemer, and crooked politician, we have said too little about those whose lust is not for flesh, money, or power but headlines and talk-show interviews. People that desperate to make television’s so-called reality shows just don’t have a grip on reality. Forget honor and courage. Don’t worry about positive achievements. Scrap modesty and class. Just get me on the tube! No wonder some kids grow up with no higher ambition than to be a thug, pimp, or drug pusher. Being outrageous is a quicker route to notoriety and fortune than disciplined achievement in things that really matter. Unless and until we quit rewarding vain and intractable adults with inane celebritude, kids will continue getting the message that what was once called “virtue” is passé and just not worth the trouble.   |
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