Reasons Behind the Celebrity Idolisation

In a way, yes celebrity worship can be seen as a form of religion for some people. The idea that celebrities are kind of gods has a long history. Film stars are called often goddesses, and in popular music we have our rock gods and pop idols (Ward, 2010). Moreover, a lot of celebrities are called idol, saints or even gods. For example, an English writer Julie Burchill called Diana a “sexy saint” (Ward, 2010). Also the deaths of a celebrity is very religious. It becomes a moment of pseudo-religious intensity. Pete Ward (2010) said about this phenomenon: “idea that celebrities are some kind of ‘nearly’ God or idol has become a common theme.

The use of the term ‘idol’ in shows like ‘American Idol’ has become routine, giving celebrity status to more and more people.” It means that nowadays it is more common to see a celebrity as some kind of god. Moreover, Gary Laderman agrees with Ward and sees celebrities as false gods. He says: “celebrity icons arouse the religious passions of followers in modern society who find spiritual meaning in the presence of these idols (Ward, 2010).” Rojek (2001) examined the role of celebrity in relation to religion and argued that celebrity culture acts in a religious way by offering a source of identity. He said: “post-God celebrity is now one of the mainstays of organizing recognition and belonging in secular society.” There are multiple comparisons between celebrity culture and religion, such as the contact between the fans or believers with their idol. Even though, the relationship between the fan and the celebrity is one-way and there is no actual contact, it does not stop the fan from feeling like there is a sincere interaction (Cashmore, 2010).

There is a ‘para-social interaction’, and this refers to the relations of intimacy constructed through the mass media (Rojek, 2001). The concept religion can, as well, be seen as one-way. And likewise, the believer in a religion still feels like there is a genuine interaction. They both feel a connection with someone they have never met; artificial involvement (Alperstein, 1991) and both have an ‘imaginary’ friend. Also, a celebrity is shown a lot in the mass media and this personalize them, turning a distant figure from a stranger into a significant other (Rojek, 2001). This has parallels with religious worship; they are both mentioned a lot in the mass media. But how did this happen, that a celebrity can be seen as a ‘false god’, as Laderman suggested (Ward, 2010). Since the rise of the internet, mass media and photojournalism, personal information about a celebrity is easy to be found by the fans; due to the technological innovation there has been an increase in media output (Ward, 2010). Furthermore, the decline in religion has left an empty space in society. Nowadays, the society desires fulfilment. Thus, the society began to create celebrities so we can worship them. They filled the empty space with celebrity culture, which is called “functional equivalence”.