Kate French and Moriah Fetter HERO VS CELEBRITY __________________________________
MEDIA: When you scroll through a Facebook feed, what catches your eye? A story about a hero or a celebrity scandal?
There is a distinct line between heroes and celebrities, yet that line can sometimes be blurred. Often people
pick their heroes out of the pool of celebrities occupying front page articles. Visit CNN’s popular news feed and
compare the number of celebrity versus hero stories featured. The media decides how we view celebrities, who
the celebrities are and how often they pop up in the eyes of the public. We don’t see as many heroes in the big
media because celebrity news is overpowering and more entertaining. While social media allows for heroes to
become “viral,” their stories aren’t seen on big news websites, causing us to question the viral story’s
credibility. Media allows us exposure to stories around the world, but it also decides what we can see and how
we see it.
THE IMAGE. FROM HERO TO CELEBRITY: THE HUMAN PSEUDO­EVENT: Boorstin’s argument: Our views of mans’ greatness has changed over the years. Fame and greatness are
different, but society often lumps them together.
Boorstin defines a hero as “a man admired for his courage, and nobility, someone who’s achieved greatness.”
Before the graphic revolution, heroes were great men who became well-known because they modeled
themselves after past heroes, achieving greatness and earning a heroic title. Traditional heroes include Moses,
Ulysses, Jesus, Caesar, Shakespeare, Washington, and Lincoln.
If we look at heroes today, they’re different. We’re reluctant to give our heroes too much praise for fear of what
power it could give them. After Hitlerism, totalitarianism has corrupted our idea of a great leader.
Through newspapers, magazines, mail, books, radio, TV, and telephone, we’re exposed to several more names
than in the past. The hero loses its significance more and more each day.
Advances in science and technology have also made it difficult for us to understand our heroes. As mass media
evolves through heroic inventions, a new form of greatness has taken over: celebrity.
Boorstin defines celebrity as "the condition of being much talked about; famousness.” Celebrities are seen
everywhere in mass media. Their overwhelming cloud of exposure has created a substitution for heroes.
The hero’s title has no expiration date. Heroes of the past live in sacred texts. Celebrities are known in gossip,
public opinion and magazines, and celebrities die with time.
Today, if someone does a heroic deed, the press transforms him into a celebrity. His role as a celebrity destroys
his role as a hero. Boorstin states, "The people once felt themselves made by their heroes. Now celebrities are
made by the people and are nothing more than a better version of ourselves. We imitate them and in turn
imitate ourselves."
With the spread of celebrities through media, we wonder if greatness even exists.
THE DAY OF THE LOCUST: Nathanael West views celebrity similarly to Daniel Boorstin when he writes
“everyone goes to California to die.”
The Day of the Locust revolves around characters who live amongst the
celebrity lifestyle.
The character, Tod relates to Boorstin with his outsiders opinion of those
around him.
The character, Faye longs for the celebrity well-knownness
The red carpet scene illustrates the media’s power over fame and what
media has done to the public.
QUOTES: “Shakespeare once divided men into three classes; those who were born great, those who achieved greatness
and those who had greatness thrust upon them.” (HTC - p.45)
“We can fabricate fame, we can at will (though usually at considerable expense) make a man or woman well
known; but we cannot make him great. We can make a celebrity, but we can never make a hero. In a now-almost
forgotten sense, all heroes are self-made” (HTC - p. 48)
“A hero was distinguished by his achievement; celebrity by his image. The hero created himself; the celebrity is
created by the media. The hero was a big man; the celebrity is a big name." (HTC - p.61)
“He knew little about them except that they had come to California to die” (TDL - p. 60)
“There are always the stages of (1) separation or departure, (2) trials and victories of initiation, and finally, (3)
return and reintegration with society.” (HTC - p.51)
“Nowadays our interest lies primarily in the mystery of new finding. Fantastic possibilities engage our
imagination without taxing our understanding.” (HTC - p.55)
“His qualities - or lack of qualities - illustrate our peculiar problems. -- He is a human pseudo-event. He has been
fabricated on purpose to satisfy our exaggerated expectations of human greatness." (HTC - p.57)
**TDL = The Day of the Locust -- HTC = Hero to Celebrity
DANIEL J. BOORSTIN: Historian Daniel J Boorstin, born in 1914, was most well-known as the 12th
Librarian of Congress. He studied at Harvard College, Balliol College in
Oxford and Inner Temple in London. He received a B.A. in Jurisprudence
and Civil Laws and a doctor of judicial science degree from Yale University.
Boorstin taught at Harvard University, Swarthmore College and the
University of Chicago, pausing for a small amount of time to practice law.
He left his 25 year career at University of Chicago to work for the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of History and Technology.
Boorstin became Librarian of Congress after a nomination from President
Gerald Ford. He earned the title Librarian of Congress Emeritus just before
his Librarian of Congress successor was announced.
Boorstin kept up his work as a historian over the course of his life, writing
many works.
Boorstin had a wife, Ruth and three children, Paul, Jon and David. When he
died, James H. Billington called him “a great American.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Boorstin, Daniel J. "From Hero to Celebrity: The Human Pseudo-Event." ​
The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America​
. New York: Atheneum, 1971. 45-76. Print.
"Daniel J Boorstin - Previous Librarians of Congress | Library of Congress." ​
Daniel J Boorstin​
. Library of Congress, n.d. Web.
West, Nathanael. "The Day of the Locust." ​
Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust​
. New York: New Directions, n.d. 59-185. Print.
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