On Jan. 27, 2024, actress Dakota Johnson hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) and stated, when the audience was shown a photograph of her standing amongst an incredibly diverse crowd of public figures, she was pictured seated near the individual who would become the most powerful person in America. The person in question? Taylor Swift. Her words carry truth, as in 2023 while embarking on the “Eras Tour,” the U.S. Travel Association estimates Swift alone boosted the American economy by $10 billion. This is due to her fans attending the concerts and not only spending money on concert tickets but hotel reservations, transportation, restaurants and more. To say Swift, a 14-time Grammy winner and critically acclaimed songwriter, is “powerful” is both an overstatement and understatement. While she has incredible influence over the music industry, pop culture and her fans, how much of an impact does a celebrity such as Swift truly have on society?
Celebrities, or people with fame, have existed in societies for hundreds of years. As explained by Columbia Magazine, “[Some] of the earliest known celebrities were politicians, performers and athletes. Medieval saints were also celebrities. But people who sought fame in classical and medieval times wanted to be remembered in their deaths. The goal of modern celebrity is to be renowned during one’s lifetime.” When one accomplishes something incredibly notable, it is often unavoidable that the person in question will attract attention. For instance, the Columbia Magazine additionally details that, in Rome, notable celebrities included “the politician Alcibiades, the playwright Aristophanes and the philosopher Socrates.” These figures were seen as glorious and achieved, thus attaining their ultimate goal of being remembered in death. While these individuals are a few examples of the first trend of celebrities, it truly wasn’t until the 19th and 20th centuries a true culture around celebrities and fame rose.
It is truly thanks to technological advancements such as the camera and the push of mass media consumption that celebrities are viewed as they are today. This is largely helped by the spread of paparazzi in the 1950s, as the photos and tabloids released to the public ensured people were fed photos of individuals over and over again, resulting in both their names and faces being more recognizable. Marilyn Monroe, a prominent actress of the 50s and 60s, is still one of the most recognizable actresses in recent history due to not just her prolific career but how much press surrounded her. “Monroe, like many stars of her era, was a Hollywood product—her name, hair color, and origin story were changed in favor of a more marketable image,” Vanity Fair explains. She used the media itself and the media’s perception of herself to advance her career, attempting to break boundaries found within Hollywood in the 60s.
The 60s specifically, alongside the decades surrounding it, are rich with culture and have their own unique personality. Certain aspects of past decades are so recognizable and intriguing that today it is not uncommon to be scrolling online and come across a post or video of someone expressing they were “born in the wrong generation,” wishing they had been alive to experience the wonders of previous years. However, is this truly because they love society in that era or because they adore certain aspects of pop culture that arose from this time? When people preach that they wish they could time travel to the 40s, it is not because they truly want to experience the environment filled with sexism, racism, segregation and war. They’re thinking of Hollywood, “simpler” times, vintage fashion and ultimately romanticizing the time period in general. They view figures like Elizabeth Taylor and Bing Crosby as the core of the era, when in reality they represented the most luscious aspects of it.
However, if you’re only fed one view, how do you know there’s another reality? Can celebrities and their work influence millions of peoples’ perspectives of the past? While the power of public figures such as politicians is undeniable, how influential are the actions and words of pop culture icons?
In 2000, Jennifer Lopez arrived at the Grammys in a green Versace dress, attracting so much attention that millions of people attempted to search images of the look online. This resulted in Google creating Google Images, a photo search engine still utilized today that allows users to quickly view a variety of photos, all because of Lopez’s enchanting look. Her popularity and charm resulted in technological advancement–often famous individuals endorse or work with different projects and companies to increase both their popularity and the company’s popularity. However, with the mega popularization of social media, now celebrities can more regularly update their fans and be overall more personal at an unprecedented level. Not only can they share details about their personal lives, but some choose to use their platforms to comment on larger political affairs and social issues. It’s fairly accurate to say they, more than almost anyone, have power to change a cause by donating some of their wealth to bigger causes and spreading awareness.
But is this their responsibility? With fame comes fortune, and some celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Michael Jordan and more recently Swift have accumulated so much success and wealth they are billionaires. The unethicalness and question of billionaires—the fact that no single person could ever spend that much money in their lifetime and often generate that wealth by questionable means—is undeniable, but unlike in the past many people celebrated Swift’s recent billionaire status. Perhaps this is because Swift’s career is latched onto how much people love her as a person. However, does this intense adoration free her from grudges against billionaires? Some argue it is a billionaire’s responsibility to redistribute their profits for the betterment of the world, as one person will never spend that much money in their lifetime. Not only does Swift have incredible wealth, but she continues to emit a great amount of carbon emissions, which Carbon Market Watch reports, “Her private jet usage amounted to an estimated 8,300 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2022 – that’s about 1,800 times the average human’s annual emissions, or 576 times that of the average American and about 1,000 times that of the average European.”
Fame, wealth, consumption, perspective, pollution. No matter how much one may love or hate a celebrity, it’s important to remember what the reality is. Just like Monroe, celebrities may present themselves in a certain light or today even with filters and fake stories to be more marketable or generate conversation. However, despite any of their actions, the reality does not change. You can love Swift’s music but still hold her accountable to her carbon emissions. You can say you love the aesthetics of the 1950s but recognize the reality of the decade. At the end of the day, you determine your reality.
