In Timothy Caulfield’s interview The Cult of Celebrity there are three very important points he discusses. Caulfield begins by talking about how children thoughts of what they want to be when they grow up has shifted. Children used to desire to be astronauts and vets but now they want to be celebrities, singers, sports stars, and dancers. Another very important thing Caulfield addresses is media. Caulfield believes that media has been the cause to why children have a desire to seek these new professions. In his interview Caulfield states points like the value of celebrity has begun increasing and that people now want to be social media famous which has lead to our youth's change in career choices. These two points are very important because they go hand and hand.Children have begun to notice media more and more and because of their age they are blind to the actual chance they have of becoming a celebrity or singer. They just simply don't see how unrealistic these dreams are. The last important point that Caulfield discusses is how people are bad at accessing their talent. In his interview Caulfield talks about his tryout for American Idol. During his tryout Caulfield discovered that the contestants genuinely thought they were talented but not everyone there was.
Furthermore, when Caulfield talks about how people are bad at accessing their talent it ties in closely with our reading earlier this week, Celebrity Culture Viewpoints. The article Celebrity Culture Viewpoints discuss how a celebrity is someone that is actively seeking to be a celebrity. While having fame on the other hand “is something one earns--through talent or achievement of one kind or another.” These individuals that Caulfield has observed during his American Idol Audition are blinded by the eyes of bliss that they create an illusion that they have a true singing talent. Caulfield recognizes this right away and states in his interview that these people think that their so called talent will bring them fame but that’s not the case because they have none. They also believe that their so called singing talent (that most of them do not have) will change their lives and social situation but the truth is without a talent or achievement there is no way this will happen. Caulfield saids in his interview that for some of those who where auditioning for American Idol that, “celebrity was their vehicle to happiness.” This is the most important point Caulfield makes because people now a days are so driven by material things and the desire to be seen in the public eye that they forget what really matters and that being a celebrity isn’t everything its cracked up to be. They almost think like stated in Celebrity Culture Viewpoints that being a celebrity is the closest thing to god on earth.
I also wrote about how children now want to be singers sports stars when they grow up. I think it was very important also that Caulfield pointed out that its almost impossible to become these things. I always found it crazy when people in high school would tell me they wanted to be a singer or celebrity and they really believed that they would make it. I found it suprising that when Caulfied auditioned for American Idol he found that most people actually thought they had a shot.
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