The Great Indian Junoon - Understanding Celebrity Culture in Indian Society
In this article
Content warning: obsession, suicide, death, covid
Image showing some of the most popular news from recent times.
Introduction
In case you missed it, here’s some of the most popular news from the past month and a half: The Supreme Court just directed the CBI to investigate Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are expecting their second child. In disappointing news for fans of the sport, MS Dhoni retired from international cricket. Not as disappointing though, as the first family of Bollywood testing positive for corona virus, just like the rest of India’s 27 lakh cases and counting.
BMC rules dictate home quarantining for at least 14 days before moving to a hospital in order to not burden the healthcare system and the already limited availability of medical equipment. Why then, was this family immediately hospitalized? Why was the media so caught up in the fate of one family of people over thousands others suffering with similar or even worse fates? And what does this say about our culture and who we are as a people?
Theory of celebrity culture
India has always had a ravenous appetite for the lives of the rich and famous. Image showing magazine covers over the years.
[1] Most people are in strange one-sided relationships with celebrities they admire and wish to emulate, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the person's existence. This phenomenon is known in psychology as parasocial relationships,[2] an idea that was and continues to be conveniently manipulated by big corporations, media enterprises and political leaders.
The large-scale manipulation of the masses can be traced back to the work of Edward Bernays, or ‘the father of public relations’ in his book “Propaganda (1928)” where he laid the foundation of 21st century advertising and marketing industries. Owing to him, the role of celebrity in influencing public opinion and the mass adulation they garnered was immediately recognized by American politicians and corporations who used his ideals to their own advantage. [3]
This tactic, readily implemented by India’s own corporate overlords, worked seamlessly with India’s existing ‘cultural hegemony’.[4] Celebrities are able to enjoy such hegemony because of the acquisition of immense social capital, (Bordieu, 1992) giving them the unique ability to influence, and unprecedented access to networks, resources and spaces that they are able to exchange in return for financial capital and relevance.[5] Caught in the crossfire of this mutually beneficial symbiosis sadly, is the common public.
Psychology of fans and the drive for the unattainable
Bollywood or the Indian film industry at large works on the basis of a star system. Plots are created for and around a singular person or pair. The actor is the pulse of the film set. The raison d’etre if you will, for the production of the movie. The reason people buy tickets and frequent cinema halls and the reason studios dedicate gigantic sums of money in budget.
This culture spills over from the film set and into the real world, where to profit their own empires, sports persons, actors, musicians etc. sell us everyday commodities the same way a film is sold by the household name to an audience. However the true commodity in this hyper-consumerist society is the celebrity itself.
News media and endorsement of beauty and lifestyle products is more than the purchase of a single product. It is the pursuit of a certain way of life, an idea all but attainable.
Moreover, it is disproportionately harmful to women on both ends of the spectrum. Not only is news media inherently sexist, capitalizing on the objectification and commodification of female bodies to satisfy the male gaze, it is largely responsible for perpetuating unrealistic standards of beauty and body image in the female audience and misogyny and perversion in the male. (For our Instagram post on fair and lovely, see here).
Further, it aggravates celebrity obsessions as fans are quick to associate celestial status with certain individuals for being able to have achieved a rose colored way of life- some falling into the trap of vicarious living, and the primitive need to rely on a leader[6]- an embodiment of all they desire. It keeps the public occupied and well distracted in a defeating, fruitless and psychologically unhealthy cycle of obsession almost always resulting in depression and mental despair.[7]
Moral Apathy and Political Agenda
When some news appears on headlines, we automatically assume it’s the most important one over other news that are in the sidelines, or don’t even get reported. Caught in the crossfire is the common public.
Weeks before the outpouring of national grief over Amitabh Bachchan, a Kashmiri man not far from him in age lay shot dead in the street, his grandson placed on his chest to be found by the public, the child no doubt traumatized for life. While this family of Bollywood elites were being hospitalized, a patient in Mumbai was asked to sleep on the floor until a bed was available in a state-run facility, while another woman suffering brain damage was turned away by private hospitals which would not treat her unless she had a certificate proving she was virus-free. A pregnant woman died in May after being denied help by three private hospitals in the outskirts of Mumbai.[8] The same disparity in treatment and public opinion was observed following the untimely demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. As unfortunate as it was, the amount of public concern did not extend itself to the suicides of Devika Balakrishnan, a Kerala student who ended her life because of the digital divide or Rohith Vemula who hung himself owing to the intense caste discrimination he faced, or to the countless other unnamed, faceless trans women, farmers, or just ordinary people, particularly from marginalized communities that take their own lives every day. There was more national coverage and public outcry over the trials and imprisonment of Salman Khan and Sanjay Datt than there is towards the many educationists and academicians being imprisoned for merely exercising their constitutional right today.
Why is it that there is so much value for a certain class of individuals and a complete disregard for the lives of others? The ‘other’ that most of us belong to? The rest of the citizens of this country?
One reason can be what is known in psychology as confirmation bias- a cognitive bias that enables us to interpret information to support our existing beliefs while ignoring any new information that might challenge it.[9] The treatment of farmers, laborers and certain ethnic minorities or women and LGBTQ+ members is perhaps consistent with the established cultural hegemony in society today that we’ve well internalized and the media sensationalizing every detail of our society’s elite while normalizing the catastrophes of the ‘other’ further exacerbates this. Perhaps we are entering the age of complete moral apathy.[10] And perhaps the onus of salvaging this rather alarming state of morality lies on the very people who’ve helped enable it; people who benefit from their silence in exchange for relevance, because it’s no secret that in India today, nationalism and relevance are joined at the hip. Just ask Priyanka Chopra.
Unlearn
“Celebrities have managed to become self-appointed advisors on almost every aspect of our lives. What shampoo we use, what cream we apply on our cheeks, what clothes we wear, and where we should head for our next holiday.
They have permeated into the most trivial and also the most intimate parts of our lives.
They have exploited all apparent and deep seated insecurities to accumulate wealth and fame for themselves.”[11]
So, it is perhaps not too much to ask that this culture of unwavering idolization be replaced by one of accountability?
It will do us good to remember that in all actuality, we, the public, are in control of the cultural hegemony as it exists today. And just like how we are collectively responsible for the rise of celebrity culture owing to our undying interest in their lives, we are complicit in the oppression of the marginalized by our silence.
A certain type of narrative will continue to be produced as long as there is market for it, perpetuating the class divide and widening the wealth gap not to mention moral apathy, all the while entertaining the false notion of class mobility. It is difficult to dissect a culture so elaborately intertwined with our very identity as a people. But mindful consumerism is the strongest way forward. The time is now to reassess how we view different human lives and how our choices have the power to influence the world around us.
KEY TERMS
Parasocial Relationships
One sided relationship between two people where one admires and obsesses over the other (like celebrity, person, organization) and the other has no idea of the obsessor’s existence.
Propaganda
Propaganda is about creating images in the minds of millions of people at the same time.
Cultural Hegemony
Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci’s often-quoted characterization of hegemony was "the 'spontaneous' consent given by the great masses of the population to the general direction imposed on social life by the dominant fundamental group”, in this case- celebrities.
Social Capital
Social capital is based on the recognition that capital is not only economic and that social exchanges are not purely self-interested and need to encompass ‘capital and profit in all their forms’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 241).
Confirmation Bias
A confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias that involves favoring information that confirms your previously existing beliefs or biases.
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References
[1] How India’s Subversive Celebrity Culture Began. (2018, October 23). The National. https://www.pressreader.com/uae/the-national-news/20181023/281487867331453
[2] Howard University Doctoral Students, Bennett, N.K., Rossmeisl, A, Turner, K, Holcombe, B. D, Young, R, Brown, T, Key, H. (n.d.). Parasocial Relationships: The Nature of Celebrity Fascinations. Find a Psychologist. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://www.findapsychologist.org/parasocial-relationships-the-nature-of-celebrity-fascinations/#:~:text=Parasocial%20relationships%20are%20one%2Dsided,unaware%20of%20the%20other’s%20existence.&text=Now%2C%20these%20relationships%20also%20occur,social%20media%20users%2C%20and%20gamers
[3] Anurjay. (2020, July 22). Celebrity Culture, Propaganda and Capitalism. Indian Newsdiary. https://indianewsdiary.com/celebrity-culture-propaganda-and-capitalism/
[4] T. J. Jackson Lears. (1985). The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities. The American Historical Review, 90(3), 567-593. doi:10.2307/1860957
[5] Claridge, T. (2015, April 22). Bourdieu on social capital – theory of capital. Social Capital-Research and Training. https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/bourdieu-on-social-capital-theory-of-capital/
[6] Tehrani, J. (2013, June 26). Viewpoint: Did our brains evolve to foolishly follow celebrities? BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23046602
[7] Web M.D., Bouchez, C., & Chang, L. (2006, March 3). A New Age Of Celebrity Worship. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-new-age-of-celebrity-worship/
[8] Altstedter, A. (2020, July 16). In a country with over 9 lakh cases, Amitabh Bachchan’s Covid Infection exposes inequalities. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/in-a-country-with-over-9-lakh-cases-amitabh-bachchans-covid-infection-exposes-inequities/articleshow/76965306.cms?from=mdr
[9] Cherry, K. (2020, February 19). How Confirmation Bias Works. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-confirmation-bias-2795024
[10] Mehta, P. B. (2018, August 9). The Age of Cretinism. OPEN. https://openthemagazine.com/cover-stories/freedom-issue-2018/essay-freedom-issue-2018/the-age-of-cretinism/
[11] Jaimini, B. (2020, June 4). What Priyanka Chopra’s Performative Woke-Ness Tells Us About Indian Celebrity Culture. LiveWire. https://livewire.thewire.in/politics/what-priyanka-chopras-performative-woke-ness-tell-us-about-indian-celebrity-culture/
Fasiha Shaikh
Bad with people. Bad with pets too. Has given up trying to fix that posture. Can be found reading Bukowski in bad light somewhere.
