Thursday, August 21, 2008

What is celebrity?

I recently had the chance to be a part of a celebrity entourage. I was working for the Mercy Ships in Liberia and Malcolm Kelly, a recent Redskins American Football draft, had come to Liberia to support the ship as his charity of choice. What a strange experience it was to be in a group of people hussling and pampering what was probably soon to be a major star.

(click on the above picture for my story on Malcolm Kelly's visit to Liberia)

I chatted with someone who worked in a large entertainment agency in Los Angeles for 13 years. I asked her about the phenomenon of celebrity and the mindset of those in the entourage. She very articulately summed up her thoughts:

The entourage has the most power because you must go through them to get to the celebrity. When associated with a celebrity you have added value as a person. In that world there is a blur between the social and work...none almost.

Celebrity is a fake idea of who you are and why people appreciate you. It is a false sense of what you are worth. Celebrity forces a person to be known by only one aspect of a person’s life and he/she allows that to be the only aspect. Without it they can’t exist.

Every artist has their own ego invested in it and are interested in the self. It all depends on how far they let that go and to what degree. Some are comfortable to sacrifice privacy to get their name out.

The whole world of celebrity makes sense: if we think of people’s nature. We want to follow and worship something. Everybody wants to be immortal and have something that lives on.

Giving up the pre-celebrity personality of integrity seems to be a gradual choice or process most make. You don’t go out one day and decide to commit adultery. It is a much slower process. For those who maintain a sense of normalcy, a healthy lifestyle – perhaps it is a personality.

Malcolm and world renowned trainer, Chip Smith, carry out practice.
Some Mercy Ship staff take part in the training.
Malcolm and his dad, Moses. Two very humble, soft-spoken individuals.
Malcolm in his warm up excercising alongside Liberian atheletes.
The Samuel Doe Stadium where the trianing sessions took place in Monrovia, Liberia.
Some observers and atheletes.
The Liberian Minister of Youth and Sports in green.
Some local kids take part in running excercises.
Part of the entourage.
The press conference is set up.
Malcolm Kelly (football player), Mr. Marbue Richards (Liberian Deputy Minister of Sports), Chip Smith (trainer).

No comments: