Celebrity is made by exposure, not necessarily achievement. Never before, with such an explosion of TV channels and reality program’s, have broadcasters needed to rely on the public, as much as they do today. From Hell’s Kitchen, to the Geek, to the Apprentice and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, have so many people achieved so much by doing so little.

The cult of personality has taken over, infusing the viewers with an appetite to analyze and compare people’s behavior in every seemingly possible situation, including those locked up in a prison to test how they would react.

In Britain, the possibility of being a celebrity is so tangible, that people are fixated with the idea that being controversial brings fame. The more scandalous, the greater their attention, the greater their fame. From stripping naked, swearing, fighting, too doing highly stupid and dangerous things, nothing is off limits.

The reward as everyone knows can be untold wealth. Massive amounts of money are lavished and people get rich, quickly. This is where the lure of fame matters and means so much to so many people. It has little to do with talent or creative expression but more to do with financial freedom. These types of people usually only have a short life span in the public eye and are soon forgotten.

Yet recycled on a never-ending stream of television program’s, there is always someone new to replace them. These people are known as the z-listers, the lowest denominator of celebrity. To their mentors, the A-listers, they are nothing more than an irritation. A disease that undermines the true virtue of their star quality. Or so they think, when in fact, most film stars, musicians, footballers, are just as entrenched in the world of business and materialistic gain as their disciples.

A new perfume, a brand of jeans, maybe a range of sunglasses, even a toothpaste for an all over Hollywood smile, nothing is too small or trivial for a mega celebrity to endorse. But what about their art, well the more popular you are, the more you can earn.

Throughout the whole alphabet of celebrity, fame drives money and money equal fame. Its implications lower the need for knowledge and reduce the motivation of people to search and ask questions. This stops learning and prevents major questions and issues from being confronted, either from an unwillingness to acquire new skills and abilities or by perceiving that these are comparatively unrewarded to the cult status that celebrities receive.

Until, nurses, doctors, engineers, scientists, amongst many, are given the hero status they deserve, society will always be pre-occupied by the trivial and the flippant. In this climate, moving knowledge and attitudes forward will fall into the hands of a minority, those ready to ignore the underlying beliefs of celebrity. It remains to be see if this minority increases in size in the coming generations or whether the power of celebrity grows to inherit all earth and all its desires. The truth out there.