Thursday, April 29, 2010

Kanye West and the Media that Provokes Him

Entertaining to the public, annoying to other celebrities and a dream to the press, Kanye West is a victim of the frenzied, obsessed media we have here in America. From the glossy pages of People to “Omg.com”, we are taught to worship the rich and famous. The most famous of the famed are the ones who do the wildest things, the ones who throw the most extravagant parties and ones who marry (and divorce) the most people. The media, which ranges from Perez Hilton to anyone who has ever read Us Weekly, encourages celebrities to create controversy by following those who do. Would Jon + Kate Plus 8 have achieved the TV ratings it has if the Gosselins were a happy family of ten? No. Would Britney Spears’ horrific song Circus have gotten into Billboard 200, yet alone debuted at No.1, had she not experienced a mental breakdown, including shaving her head, only months before? The American public rewards those who break the rules by giving them extensive publicity. Kanye West recognizes this and simply does what needs to be done in order for him to achieve fame. Time and time again we have seen this rapper engage in controversial behavior and then come out a few days later with an apology or excuse. For example, on September 2nd, 2005, Kanye deviated from his script during a concert benefiting Hurricane Katrina and declared “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Understandably, this proclamation caused much attention. Later, West defended his statement by saying “he has a hard time believing that George Bush cares about anyone.” The most televised and most famous of all Kanye’s controversies may be his interrupting of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMAs. While Kanye faced heavy scrutiny for this, it was the event everyone in America was talking about and outshined the awards themselves. That is exactly what Kanye wants. He doesn’t care if some mothers in Ohio think he is a jerk. What he wants is publicity. And he got it.

Although these controversies have earned him much criticism and the title of “Jackass” (from President Obama himself), Kanye has actually benefited from these incidents. We as the American public have shown interest in him, which is what he or any other entertainer wants. Kanye’s song, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” illustrates his infatuation with fame and even references some of his controversies (“I’m on TV talking like its just you and me”). West is a perfect example of a celebrity obsessed by the media and getting its attention.


Olivia

10 comments:

  1. Never think about these things from the point of view of the celebrity....hm, makes you wonder if everything in Hollywood is staged?

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  2. Who cares if he's just doing this for the fame!!! Either way he's a disgusting jerk! (Yet I still manage to buy his songs.........)

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  3. Great piece! A very unique point of view, good job! I am looking forward to reading more of your articles, Álit is my new favorite blog!

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  4. I like this alit. well written and makes me think. should we not pay attention to celebrities if it leads to performers like kanye west? very true points about john and kate plus 8 and britney spears.

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  5. Along those lines, I also believe that West is a victim of Hollywood and the entire industry of fame. He wants it, so he's going to do whatever he can to get it and keep it. If he was an athlete and he never stopped practicing, we'd be congratulating him, because practice is how a good athlete gets to be a great athlete. Well, as this illuminating article points out, controversy is how a well-known rapper gets to be a famous rapper.
    Until Hollywood can change this, and start rewarding people for actual achievements (ahem, Heidi and Spencer), just let Kanye do his thing. He wants to be an icon - he's said so himself - so why shouldn't he do what he can to get there?

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  6. Dissenting with Ken R ^.
    Sure, Kanye should do what he can to gain even more fame. But not at the cost of others. You can't just go around interrupting people's speeches and making offensive accusations of the President of our country. If you want to get recognized, Kanye, maybe get a new (good) album out. (And no, that last one with all that sugared up Heartless and Love Lockdown crap doesn't count.)

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  7. I agree completely with this article. We, as the people who devour magazines and celebrity gossip, encourage the famed to be as ridiculous as possible. For celebrities doing a crazy stunt is just a way to sell more songs or gain a front page spread in a magazines. Maybe if we stopped caring so much, entertainers would stop acting in such ridiculous manners.

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  8. wow! this is an amazing piece! really brings up some new and interesting points! it really made me think! love this blog! yay!

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  9. this is very true; does it really matter what celebrities do? i find it entertaining to see them do stupid things, and that is what their whole life is about- entertainment

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  10. Wow this piece is so well writen and insightful! I look forward to reading other posts writen by you and Meredith. I'm really proud of you guys for starting this blog and writing about issues that are often overlooked. It's truly inspiring!

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