How the ways celebrities acted and dressed in the light of the media changed and influenced the way teenagers live and experience their lives
As generations come and go, teenagers have proved their desire to be associated with the famous in the society. The need to be appreciated and recognized makes most teenagers set standards basing on a celebrity they love. They will hence put in more effort to dress, talk and even live like a celebrity of their choice. Unfortunately, most of such celebrities are only virtual role models to the teenagers who judge them according to how they are presented in the media. Celebrity action and appearance in the light of the media directly influences the way teens make economic, personal, social, and lifestyle decisions, as well as affects the way youth practices religion, views body image, holds political views, and overall lives their lives. In this paper, we shall look at some of the ways media celebrities affect the decisions made by teenagers in all aspect of their lives.
Pop culture is one of the biggest influences that teenagers get from media celebrities. Pop culture mostly influences the kind of music that teenagers enjoy listening. With the hype that comes with teenage life, most of them feel energetic enough to not only dance but also attend most of the parties that involve pop music. With few responsibilities among them and the time they have especially during weekends and school holidays, teenagers find music to be the way to relive themselves. Teenagers find it easy to associate with the energy and flexibility displayed by pop music stars and hence imitating them (Maltby 17-35). Pop music stars display themselves as young, vibrant people that have fewer issues in life. A display of such an image makes teenagers feel encouraged especially when they consider the issues they have to face in their families and societies. They believe that by associating themselves with such music and celebrities, they will also live a vibrant and stress free life. Pop music becomes an escape route of the realities they are facing as they grow.
Language is a tool of communication that defines status and exposure. Celebrities have used language a trademark to identify and distinguish them from the rest of the people. Teenagers that look up to a particular celebrity as a role model will therefore imitate their language just to look like them. For instance, some teenagers tend to be attracted to the weird looking and most probably feared celebrities in the media (Clark 98). This could be due to the roles they play in movies and how they manage to manipulate their way through the challenges of life. Teenage life comes with a phase that makes them feel the need of being tough in order to make it in life. Some of them feel that their parents and teachers are being so hard on them or the society does not understand them. They will hence look up to a celebrity that displays such toughness to manoeuvre through life and emulate their behaviour.
Culture defines the roots of a celebrity that make them want to display even the more. Culture is mostly associated with certain stereotypes that celebrities would want to prove or disapprove. The media has been found to be a perfect place where such celebrities can promote their culture and show the world how superior they are. Such celebrities play an important role in the lives of teenagers who are struggling with identifying with certain cultures. Some teenagers suffer from a low self-esteem simply because they believe they come from a lesser cultural background (Redmond & Su 35). They may hence not be proud to tell or show where they come from for fear of being stereotyped or even ridiculed. Having a public figure doing well in the eyes of the media gives them such courage and inspiration. They will hence keenly follow on such a celebrity with the hope that they can make it in life despite their cultural backgrounds. Some teenagers will even call themselves with the names of the celebrity just to boost their esteem and show their peers that they can also make it irrespective of their backgrounds.
Religion defines an individual in terms of their spiritual standing and supernatural believes. This is an area where most celebrities will shy from displaying for fear of losing fans. When a person becomes a celebrity, he or she attracts fans from every corner of the world. Most of them will not want people to know about their religious standing for fear of being judged. Teenagers get affected with such decisions especially when they like a certain celebrity. As a teenager grows, he makes decisions on what to believe in for spirituality. Since some of them aim at being like a particular celebrity, they will also want to adapt to their spiritual standing. It is for this reason you find that some give awkward answers about their spirituality, which reflect on what they heard about the celebrity of their choice. Parents get shocked to learn that their teenage child is subscribing to a contrary religion, which is accompanied by certain behaviours (Flay & Judith 25). Parents who do not understand the media associations of their children conclude that they have been influenced by their peers at school. Parents fail to realize the quest within their children to be like certain media personalities and hence adopting their religious beliefs.
Unfortunately, most teenagers know very little about the Lifestyles of their celebrities of choice. There is a lot that is not seen on the screen, yet most teenagers believe what they see more than what is real. Their young minds never imagine the amount of rehearsal and effort that has been put in by a celebrity just to display a certain figure on the screen (Brown & Elizabeth 160-165). This has always been a pint of contention between parents and teenagers as they try to draw a line between reality and fantasy. For instance, a certain male celebrity will display himself in the media surrounded by many attractive women. They appear to enjoy the attention and the happiness they derive from maintaining such a relationship. A teenage boy looks at such a man and admires their lifestyle not knowing that it may not be as real as they display. They will hence engage in irresponsible relationships that cause them frustrations. When things appear not to be working as expected, they start questioning why they cannot just be as their celebrity of choice.
Every teenager desires to be a fashion icon and to be admired by his or her peers. Dressing is one of the areas that define how conscious they are in fashion. The best place where teenagers derive their latest trends is through media celebrities. Teenagers tend to believe that adopting certain dress cord will make them look like a particular celebrity. A teenage girl who admires a particular celebrity will show interest in filling her wardrobe with the kind of clothes she wears and even try to imitate their lifestyles. They find a lot of pleasure when they are called by the name of such a celebrity (Fraser & William 198). They will also feel the need of following up on them just to ensure they make the necessary adjustments when need arises. They will feel bad, especially when nobody seems to recognize their efforts in becoming like a particular celebrity. Some teenagers even go the extra mile of transforming their physical looks just to be identified with a particular celebrity.
As teenagers grow into their teenage years, they encounter a wider society that controls governance at a higher level. They realise, apart from their home and school authority, there is a atonal leadership that has more influence on leadership than what they know. Teenagers, who start feeling uncomfortable with rules imposed to them at home and school realise that they have a higher authority that can defend them, especially when other authorities fail to understand them. Teenagers realise that they have their own rights, which are protected by the state (Jackson & Thomas 91). Teenagers start realizing the importance of being affiliated to certain political parties or personalities that appear to favour them. Teenagers are usually drawn to things and people that appreciate and accept them. Even though teenagers are children and hence not able to vote, they command a lot of influence and can be used as advertisement and marketing tools for politicians and political parties. Their affiliation to certain political parties and politicians influence future decisions of the teenagers.
Image defines personality and status. Media personalities understand this and hence putting in many efforts to look their best. Teenagers on the other hand are at stage where they want to look their best. The society defines men and women in particular ways depending on the image they display. As a teenage boy or girl watch television and other magazines, they are likely to be drawn to particular personalities that display an image they admire. Image may not have been their initial attraction to the celebrity but since they admire other aspects about them, they grow a desire to even dress and just look like them (Greene & Carolyn 87). You will hence find girls and boys as young as fourteen years acquiring some hairstyles and hair colours that appear strange. Some of them will even go to an extend of bleaching their skin or acquiring body piercings and tattoos just to display a certain image. The adopted image is also displayed by some walking styles that are likely to permanently change their posture.
Drugs and drug abuse has become a serious issue in the society and especially among the youth. Most parents never realise when their children start engaging in drugs and mostly learn of it when it has reached a dangerous stage. The fact is that most youths who are addicted to drugs get exposed to them during their teenage years. It is unfortunate that when teenagers get attracted to media personalities and celebrities, they are not guided or given adequate information about them. They concentrate on what they display on the media and hence not understanding the secret behind their hype (Giles & John 817). Drug involvement and its ultimate addiction comes from the frustrations of not being able to maintain a particular style of the celebrity or on learning that their ‘godfathers’ are also engaged in drugs. The fact that such celebrities appear normal and happy makes them feel that drugs are not as bad as they are displayed by the media. They are drawn to the belief that if they must be like their celebrities of choice, then they will have to maintain a life of taking drugs.
Teenagers are most probably the most delicate people to handle due to the changes that they undergo. Teenage is a stage where children grow into adults, which makes it difficult to understand them. Their age demand that they be treated like children, yet the changes that occur within them make them feel like adults and hence to be treated the same. Most parents and teachers believe that teenagers are arrogant and hence need to be treated with a lot of strictness. Being strict on teenagers worsens their complicated situation as they shy off from speaking their mind. Since they are in need of information and some sort of influence, some teenagers will resolve to celebrities and media personalities, who despite their age, seem to understand and empathise with their situation (Bush, Craig & Paul 29). Unfortunately, the celebrities and personalities that such teenagers look up to, have no personal relationship with them. All they know is what is displayed in the media, which is hardly the truth of who they really are. Teenagers hence set their standards basing on fantasy rather than reality. It becomes frustrating when they realise they cannot fake anymore and have to face the reality of life.
There are however, teenagers who have looked up to some celebrities and succeeded in life. The question is always on the kind of impartation being given to the teenagers and whether it will stand the test of time. The problem with the teenagers looking at celebrities as an inspiration is when they fail them. For instance, it is heart breaking for a teenager, who has admired a certain celebrity for long, only to learn that they live immoral lives or depend on drugs to keep their hype (Botta 38). They feel let down and even imagine how difficult or impossible it is for them to be what they want unless they are engaged in what their celebrities are engaged in. As teenagers grow into adulthood, they realise that they cannot undo the mistakes they made in their teenage years in the name of being like a particular celebrity. As truth sets in, they realise that teenage was just a stage and that there was no reality in what was being displayed by the media. They are therefore forced to live with such scars, as they work at supplementing on what they cannot do.
Bringing up children is a responsibility of the whole society. The media had however complicated the whole issue making teenagers look at their parents and teachers as old fashioned and not empathising with their needs. There is no reality told especially about some of the pop and movie stars on the screens. Teenagers are also not given proper guidance, and especially making them understand more about celebrities of their choice before they are obsessed by them. Having adequate and all round information for celebrities that teenagers are attracted to, will help educate them and even ensure that they make the right decisions that will not bring them future regrets.
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