ce·leb·ri·ty Pronunciation: s&-'le-br&-tE Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -ties 1 : the state of being celebrated : FAME 2 : a famous or celebrated person
I'm pondering the term, and the phenomenon this morning, after reading Forbes' list of the 100 Most Powerful Celebrities. It's an interesting ranking system they use, based on a combination of income, # of hits on the person's name on the Web, # of articles written or mentions of the person in the press, and similar stats for mentions on TV. (Sorry for the lack of formatting of the chart below, but you'll figure it out.) I guess the thing that's striking me is wondering how much of the total income of the top 25 ($1,556,000,000) went to helping other people? And how much of the celebrities' time and energy went to helping other people? I can think of a few things that a few people on the list have done to "put energy back into the system," and use their celebrity status to bring public attention to issues that really *deserve* people's attention. But it's really a few. Oprah has put her money where her mouth is, as has Steven Spielberg and Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp and a few others. But the rest? Was it all "payoff" for having hit the Big Time, spent on fancy houses and cars and bling and investments, or did some of the fame and its benefits get "recycled" and invested in helping others? "Most powerful" celebrities? IMO, power is not about money, or the amount of attention you can suck from other people. It's about what you use your "power" FOR. If the term comes from "celebrate," I just find myself wishing that there was more TO celebrate. I wish that there were more "celebrities" who *did* publicly put more of their public persona into selfless service. So many people in this world *focus* on these people -- give them their attention and their respect and their envy -- that their very celebrity status gives them an enormous opportunity to "do good." Just a few examples of *them* doing some nice things for other people *when they don't HAVE to* might inspire millions of their fans to do the same in their own lives. And in the long run, that might do more good for the world than if these guys had taken the whole $1,556,000,000 and given it to charity. 'Rank' 'Name' 'Pay ($mil)' 'Web Rank' 'Press Rank' 'TV Rank' 01 Oprah Winfrey 260 1 7 1 02 Tiger Woods 100 16 3 3 03 Madonna 72 2 1 6 04 Rolling Stones 88 7 14 20 05 Brad Pitt 35 15 9 12 06 Johnny Depp 92 32 21 39 07 Elton John 53 18 18 35 08 Tom Cruise 31 8 10 7 09 Jay-Z 83 10 47 50 10 Steven Spielberg 110 45 33 51 11 Tom Hanks 74 34 42 55 12 Grey's Anatomy cast 33 37 25 16 13 Howard Stern 70 59 58 5 14 Angelina Jolie 20 13 13 13 15 David Beckham 33 25 6 42 16 Phil Mickelson 42 81 12 18 17 David Letterman 40 60 32 10 18 Bon Jovi 67 21 57 53 19 Donald Trump 32 28 27 8 20 Celine Dion 45 20 59 65 21 Simon Cowell 45 74 43 38 22 U2 30 6 11 46 23 Kobe Bryant 33 66 28 30 24 Michael Schumacher 36 37 8 88 25 Shaquille O'Neal 32 52 20 33
