Sunday, January 18, 2009

Make them Famous

On the 2008 campaign trail, we saw John McCain, in regards to spenders of pork projects, resuscitate Ronald Regan's call to "make them famous" for their unnecessary spending. While My Ego is not opposed to calling out those who cause harm, My Ego believes now is certainly the time for famous making, yet of a different variety.

My Ego finds no fault with the idea of celebrity in and of itself--the challenge is to redefine celebrities as those who challenge our dying ways of being the most, those who's intellect is as sharp as their Armani suits, and those who lift us to be our better selves, and not let us fall into the shadows. Celebrity isn't the problem; who we look at as celebrity and how we use their influence is.

Imagine a world where our leading scientists were lauded as rock stars; where historians were idolized on TMZ, where philosophers were no longer seen as dusty old men, rather the keepers of expanding and encompassing value systems that are being debated by text-messaging teenagers.

Imagine TED talks being held as a part of Bonnaroo, where Eaves Behar jammed on the 100$ laptop with Wilco, and Jeff Han VJ'd for NIN with his touch screen technology. Think of William McDonough dating Jennifer Aniston, and Malcome Gladwell surrounded by a swarm of press following him everywhere he went.

Some say My Ego is just a dreamer...

~mIe

1 comment:

S. said...

Keep dreaming Ego, they come true.

The pillars of media in the US, say compared to many of the EU States, are not in balance. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was not a big help when it came to the power of corporate media, and advertising interests literally almost eliminated public airwaves in The US.

This power, with Hollywood on board and control of the communications infrastructure makes media products one of its top exports in America. The star system and infotainment have taken strong hold, with generations of people without real knowledge of how it became possible.

Yes, Marconi and Gutenberg are rolling in their graves. The Free Flow of Information? People died and killed for it. It just appears, like The World's Population, The Triangle got a lot bigger.

Thank God for The Internet. When will escapism end? And The People hunt again for Reality, The Truth and The Roots of not just beautiful people in front of a camera who act, but for all of those who really helped make this phenomenon possible.