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A Daily Telegraph survey of 5000 British adults set out
to find out the things that make us unique as a nation.
At number one on that list…… talking about the weather!
The survey asked people to identify traits within them-
selves and within the top twenty came the following:
curtain twitching, (41% of people admitted to being
nosey neighbours), a passion for the telly, an obsession
with class, a love of gossip and the candid confession of
enjoying other people’s misfortunes! Having established
these characteristics early on then perhaps it isn’t so sur-
prising to find an interest in celebrity lifestyles at number
43. The survey sample included people of all ages - I
doubt if when the young gather they break the ice with
chat about the weather.
Along with the population and property prices the
so-called celebrity culture has grown massively over
the past decade. Everywhere you look there an endless
stream of information about the famous with much of it
concerned with people unburdened by any particular
talent, skill or achievement. Are we drowning in a
dystopic new world of trivial and trivialising people
who are famous for being famous?
Did I say that a love of moaning made it to number 10
on the Telegraph list?
Nothing is New
Another recent survey in the UK found that the ambition
of a staggering 40% of children is to be rich and famous.
Only 1% wanted to work in an office and just 5% wanted
to become teachers. Gnash your teeth and berate the gods
as you will but it is a recurring theme in
The Kettle
that
nothing but nothing is new. We the people, have, so it
seems, been somewhere between mildly interested and
completely obsessed with celebrity and fame since, well
would you believe it, the very dawn of civilisation.
Back in the Day
In The Frenzy of Renown (1986) Professor Leo Braudy
from the University of Southern California (where else
could possibly lead the field in celebrity studies?) says
that fame has always been a part of human society and
that the expression of fame has simply changed over
time depending on what vectors have been available
to spread the word. The professor nominates Alexander
the Great as the first famous person in history - a man
with a flair for publicity who advertised his fame using
the tools and media available at the time – coins, statues
and paintings. Oh and a great big empire.
Living Long Enough to Be Famous
The Ancient Roman world also advertised its most
famous, powerful inhabitants by imprinting their faces
on coins or else immortalised them as sculptures or
artworks. For gladiators success meant life and those
athletic superstars who survived became the darlings
of the crowd - especially with women. Graffiti from
Pompeii gives a fascinating insight into the celebrity
of gladiators. Oceanus was called ‘the barmaid’s choice’
and though Spartacus, the captured Thracian soldier who
led the slaves revolt, is by far the most famous gladiator
to a modern audience, archeological finds continue to
reveal the contemporary fame of men like Tetraites
whose popularity was vastly underestimated until
pottery depicting his victories began turning up as
far away as France and England.
From Word of Mouth to the Printing Press
When the light of late antiquity died the Western World
Kitty Fisher Found It -
A Story of Celebrity
