Heroes and The Cult Of Celebrity
The theories that apply to my topic are that Rappers are
heroes, and that they should be role models.
Rappers are looked upon in certain parts of society because they have
become successful despite some of them being raised in less than perfect
neighborhoods. This is a sensitive
subject in the hip-hop culture, because some rappers have very suggestive and explicit
lyrics and are reflecting on the lifestyle that they came from. Because society is mostly conservative they
look at the lifestyle and think that because that person has lived that
lifestyle that they shouldn’t be looked upon to provide positive examples for
today’s youth.
Believing
that hip-hop artists are heroes is stretching the meaning of hero. I can understand why people would like to
believe that they are heroes because
they have made it out of the “ghetto” into a better lifestyle than what they
may have previously been in, but I feel that the hero translation has been lost
a little in that logic. To me a hero is
someone who selflessly puts others in front of themselves, not someone who uses
what they have to further advance themselves.
There may be motives that help give them that push, but ultimately it’s
no longer about self. A true example of
this would be mothers. Mothers give
selflessly to provide comfort, security, stability and all of the essentials
that their child would need. Regardless
of what the situation may be she always puts her children first, oftentimes
this comes at the sacrifice of herself and her needs. But she does this tirelessly without a second
thought. And that to me is the definition
of a hero. One who sacrifices their own
needs and desires for those who are unable to do so for themselves.
The cult of the celebrity is only as large as the popularity
of the celebrity involved. There is
always an attraction to celebrities because most people wish to achieve what
these individuals have achieved. And
people follow these celebrities as a way to live their life as though it was one’s
own life. And since imitation is the best
form of flattery, since people are unable to imitate those celebrities they
choose to follow them and emulate what they do.
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