Celebrities are becoming an increasingly visible part of our lives, possibly because we don't have the Cold War as a "frame of reference" for all the news we get each day and possibly because we are "bowling alone" more often and need some public figures to represent the acquaintances we lack.
My explanation is a
little different. I think that the frame work that provided moral
support and reference half a century ago consisted of mainstream
religions and social clubs. They were our cohort. Today our moral frame of reference is
our friends and the celebrities we follow, again our cohort. Both cohorts, then and now, included people we only know or knew by reputation.
The stories and news about celebrities is pure gossip. My definition of "gossip" particularly good gossip is that it tells us on-going stories about the moral consequences of how people lead their lives.
Anna Nichole Smith was a perfect celebrity and
she got celebrity treatment because she was an excellent moral story. The tale of
a woman from a big city who made up a story of herself coming from a
rural town, used her bust and figure, along with bleach and a name
change to become a Playboy model. She then, with no shame, allured,
pandered to and married a rich old man (I can sympathize with his reasons for marrying her). You know the story about the
tragedies in her life that follow as the moral consequences of Anna's
behavior. A perfect moral tale.
For another celebrity we constantly keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. A man of great courage, bravery and integrity, who pulled himself out of the ghetto and became a model citizen and advertising icon. His downward slide began with his marriage to a beautiful blond white woman, his use of booze and finally a jealous murder followed by a criminal trial and a civil trial. O.J. hasn't been punished according to public morals, because he owns a big house in Florida that is protected from civil judgement, and has royalty income from the Bahamas also protected from civil judgement. He gets to play golf and wait for the other shoe to drop. Which it will.
I can't make a full list of celebrities who are acting out moral tales for us: Paris, Britney, Mel Gibson, Dan Rather, John Kerry, Al Gore, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, Donald Trump, Mayor Gavin Newsom etc.
We watch these people to see the moral consequences of their behavior....that is the role of celebrities in the contemporary world.