I was riding the subway and I glanced up at a billboard that advertised a new book called ‘Living Oprah’ written by Robyn Okrant. It was about an ordinary woman who decides to follow all of Oprah’s advice for a year in order to see how it transforms her. I thought this was a clever hook so I ordered it on amazon.com and spent the last three days reading it, in transit. I have to say, it was a bit of a hoot. But before I describe the book to you I’d like to address the more general question of celebrity worship in our culture and in your life in particular.
Maybe it’s best if first I define my terms. According to Wikipedia a CELEBRITY is a person who is famously recognized in a society or culture. In contrast, a HERO refers to a character who in the face of danger, adversity or from a position of weakness, displays courage and the will for self-sacrifice for some greater good, originally of martial courage or excellence but extended to more general moral excellence. So although we might often flip these terms celebrity and hero, the first is just someone famous (well known) and the latter denotes someone of high character. Important I think, lest we automatically confuse the two.
Anyway, it is safe to say that people in the United States love their celebrities. According to Wikipedia US Magazine has a circulation of over 1.85 million, OK magazine reportedly has more than 30 million readers worldwide, People magazine has 3.75 million circulation and the National Enquirer has over a million. And that is only a few celebrity magazines, what about television shows, online sites and radio?
Even if we don’t follow celebrities closely, we seem to know things about them through osmosis, because their divorce, affair, new haircut etc. becomes part of the very fabric of our culture and we cannot help but overhear someone describing the latest celebrity gossip beside us on the subway. So somehow we are aware that Britney Spears just lost weight using acai berry and Halle Berry is now pregnant. I’m sure you can relate.
Not only do we know more about celebrities’ personal lives than our local grocery store checkout girls life but we also seem to mimic their choices. Advertising uses celebrity endorsements for products because they know that it will help sell them. In fact, you can even look up something called Q scores which measure the true audience appeal of an actor or entertainer-their familiarity, trust and believability. So it is important for us to recognize that many celebrities are automatically given power and influence (and connotations of character) just by general consensus and popularity although we do not truly know them. This in turn influences our choices from the products that we buy, to the lifestyle choices that we make, to even whom you might vote for and what social causes you might adopt.
Yes, I know that many of you feel that you are above this influence but writing this particular blog this morning caused me to think about which top three celebrities that I’d like to meet, living and dead. Here is my honest list, embarrassing though it might be:
Living Celebrities I’d Like to Meet:
1. Oprah-I admire her spirituality, generosity and her nature and scope of influence
2. Olivia Newton-John-I love her singing, her energy and her support of the environment plus she was my favorite childhood celebrity
3. Gloria Steinum-although I am not a staunch feminist I heard her speak once at a conference and I found her to be smart, inspiring, interesting, informed and a great speaker.
4. Dali Lama-why isn’t he at the top of my list? Perhaps because I feel his consciousness would be too above mine but it would be great to be in his presence and to learn from him.
Deceased Celebrities I’d Like to Meet:
1. Gandhi- He might be the person I admire most and I’d love to speak with him about life and humanity.
2. Mother Teresa- I think it was amazing what she accomplished and I’d like to discuuss her ideas about love.
3. I could not think of an immediate third deceased person (and I am rushing) so I’ll leave this blank. Perhaps Albert Einstein? I liked his imagination and creativity…
I feel like this is one of those facebook applications but before I move on, do consider which three celebrities you would like to meet and why.
I think that we love celebrities because they seem larger than life and they make valuable contributions in entertainment and the arts. But in my opinion it’s also important to remember that celebrities are just people who put on their pants one leg at a time, just like everyone else. They have their flaws, struggles and heart ships and it is not easy to live that type of life with all its attendant pressures. Although I’ve often thought that it would be nice to reach a wider audience through having a television show or radio show, I’m also fully aware that I would not hope to be extremely famous because I am aware of the possible costs. In my opinion you gain in your scope of influence, your ability to meet interesting people and to try new things (and of course in money and possessions) but you would pay a large cost in terms of your personal and private time, the scope of your anonymity and your ability to just be with your family and loved ones without the constant pressures of the outside world. And honestly, although I am someone who believes all of our voices should be counted in this life I don’t think I’d want the pressure of everyone buying white washed jeans just because I bought some on Sunday.
The book ‘Living Oprah’ is an experiment that a yoga teacher named Robyn undertook to live the life that Oprah suggests. Obviously Robyn chooses to concretize Oprah’s advice beyond what is normal. In my opinion Oprah shares what she likes and expects her fans to take or leave it. She is generous and wise and knows how to select experts where her own knowledge may be lacking. But I doubt she expects people to lack such discrimination that they hand their lives over to her and stop thinking for themselves. I don’t know her but the feeling I get from her is actually opposite this notion. I think she wants to make people question things and to raise their consciousness. It’s one of the things I admire about her.
Anyway, in the case of the book, ‘Living Oprah’ author Robyn commits to watching all Oprah Winfrey television shows for a year, reading the the Oprah (O magazines) for that year and consulting her website oprah.com. If Oprah gave a directive of any kind through these three outlets, Robyn would follow it. If one of Oprah’s expert guests gave some advice and Oprah backed it up she would heed it too. This would be her encyclopedia of living for the year and we see in detail how it affects her purchases, home, finances, relationships, image and style, nutrition, political and social choices. This author ends up spending $4,781.84 in money and 1202 hours and 1 minute of time completing all of Oprah’s advice that year. Unbelievably her marriage survives this experiment as her husband has in the process agreed to redecorate their apartment, try out new meals, dissect their relationship through quizzes and exercises. Both of them maintain their sense of humor throughout the process yet they also discuss the real pulls and pressures of trying to change and improve their lives and heeding outside expert advice. In the end, the jury is out on whether Robyn feels that all her hard work has made her happier. She reports being more emotionally frazzled and exhausted but she does feel that her physical health has improved. She also says that heeding Oprah has become such a habit that it is hard to return to thinking for herself.
This causes us to consider the topic of celebrity worship in general. I don’t think this book is a negative statement on Oprah because none of us would live up to such scrutiny if someone were to document and live our every utterance.
As the NY Love Examiner I am not suggesting that we stop loving our favorite celebrities, only that we stop to ask why we love them and that ulimately you become your own guiding star in this life! It is nice to have role models who blaze a path and inspire us to dream big but it is up to us to keep our feet on the ground in the process.
The book has a clever hook and it is an interesting social experiment that causes us to remember to think for ourselves, to take full responsibility for our own lives and to allow celebrities to do the same. I do not fault Oprah for trying to share what she believes and loves and for using her power for terrific change in this world. To me that takes guts. The wonderful side of celebrity is that in your abundance you can use your influence to help guide and influence the good of others and you can share your great resources where they are most needed. My guess is that Oprah would agree that she is not g-d and that people need to think for themselves and do what is right for them. This is what our education system is supposed to be about and my guess is that Oprah wants to encourage reading and education in this society for this very reason.
So take a moment and consider your own relationship with celebrity worship this morning. What is it all about for you and how prevalent is it? Consider reading Robyn’s book and if you do, let me know what you think. I’d also be interested to have you post the three celebrities you’d like to meet in this life below and why.
My Best in Love,
Paulette
www.mydatingschool.com
Author of ‘Dating from the Inside Out: How to Use the Law of Attraction in Matters of the Heart’ published by Atria Books.
Related Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Oprah-One-Year-Experiment-Queen/dp/1599952394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020203&sr=8-1 (to order the book ‘Living Oprah’)
http://www.qscores.com/pages/Template1/site11/30/default.aspx
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