The World of Words: Vocabulary for College Success ... - eLibrary

232 Chapter 7 Word Elements: Movementupdates on their activities and romances. Technology has also helped us tofollow celebrities. In the 1990s, wire-tapping and long-range cameras revealedthat Prince Charles of England was having an affair, and that his sister-in-law,“Fergie,” was touching toes with a sweetheart. In today’s world,the growth of fansites, blogs, and Twitter make conditions even more conduciveto tracking the smallest events in the lives of our favorite stars.Often, very famous people cannot escape being pursued by (2) reporterswho tenaciously try to extract the most intimate details of theirlives. (3) It is almost impossible to circumvent them. When “Brangelina”(Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) begged for privacy, they were greeted withlaughter.(4) We all have moments when we are not completely circumspect,and if you are a celebrity, it is almost certain that your inadvertent slipswill be publicized within minutes. In fact, bad news is even more readablethan good. A dejected-looking star on the cover of a tabloid sells lots ofcopies to supermarket customers. (5) The contestants on American Idolare routinely jettisoned. But despite their usually transitory fame, theyare almost always followed by the media.How does all this affect the billions of us who follow celebrity news?Interest can be healthy when the famous provide good models. NewscasterKatie Couric focused attention on the need for colon cancer screening.Rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof are social activists who were nominatedfor the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Celebrity news can also be a harmlessamusement that diverts our attention from our own problems.But not all interest is healthy. Many teenagers, to the despair of theirparents, have copied the outfits of Sienna Miller or the hairstyle of DavidBeckham. (6) In fact, stars often put their names on fashion lines to inducesales. Anorexia, an eating disorder causing extreme weight loss, has been partiallyblamed on the influence of celebrities. In an effort to attain the “perfect”bodies of those they worship, young girls can starve themselves to death.Or celebrity worship can lead to a sort of mass hysteria. In India, the2006 death of superstar Rajkumar sent shock waves through the population.(7) Distraught fans attacked cars, pelting stones at them. Indian citizenshave given the term idol worship a new meaning—the fans of oneactress actually built a temple in her honor.At times, celebrity worship can turn deadly. Pursuing reporters havebeen blamed for the car crash that killed Princess Diana of Britain in1997. A fan claimed that Eminem’s violent lyrics inspired him to commitmurder. Celebrities themselves can also become the targets of fans. JohnLennon was shot dead in the streets of New York. (8) Tennis star MonicaSeles was stabbed by a fan of adversary Steffi Graf.Celebrity worship has become troublesome enough that it is now atopic of research. Southern Illinois researcher James Houran and his colleaguesidentify three levels. The first, called “entertainment social,” isharmless. As an example, (9) staunch fans may simply enjoy reading andtalking about stars. The second is “intense personal.” At this level, the connectiontranscends a simple interest and becomes a personal “bond”with the celebrity. So, a fan may feel that Jennifer Aniston is his soul mate.Copyright © Cengage Learning. All Right Reserved.