CELEBRITY IDOLIZATION: A MODERN MENACE.

 

It is not surprising that the over- adoration of society’s pseudo-characters called celebrities are too becoming of our emerging youths to the extent that some have based their entire life style activities on whatever come from this “yeyebrities” as some netizens will call them! If this is how your existence has been shaped, then you are developing a generation of fakeness and vagueness of personalities. 

Not only are celebrities the protagonists of our news, the subject of our daily discourse and the repositories of our values, but they also embedded themselves so deeply in our consciousness that many individuals profess feeling closer to, and more passionate about, them than their own primary group (family). Note that the definition giving to the word “celebrity” at times extends beyond hip-hop artist, influencers, actors and actresses, comedians and the likes of “bobriskies”. I am not oblivious of that fact, but my analysis here is solely concerned with the idolization of the aforementioned categories of celebrity.

Celebrity status is built on the refining and promoting of a specially designed imagery in the minds of people through the mass media, a carefully-concocted idea about a person that he or she is something special and elevated above the ordinaries. The image is relayed to a world in search of something bigger than itself and the celebrity comes to take center stage in this utopian fantasy. Celebrities become object of extreme devotion and worshipped from time to time even when they are not seen. Some even go further to bodily imprint their pictures through what is called tattooing and some get it pasted in their homes. 

The great Muslim theologian Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya said “whoever knows his Lord, loves him”. This logic can be applied to a fanboy or girl who adores their singer, actor, influencer or footballer idol. They want to know them the most as indicated by the buying of magazines, following on social media, etc. Also they love them, as they express the language of love by words of affirmation, wanting to spend time with the idol (even if its online watching or listening), etc. They also obey the idol. if the idol said “spinach is good for you” and started posting of him or her eating the green leaf, they would buy spinach (this is why some are called influencers). Also, they express acts of worship like gratitude to them by affirming that their existence is what gives them some meanings in their lives. 

This is nothing but gullible affection. And the funniest thing is that many of these celebs are not really educated and you see the educated youths dying to meet their uneducated idols. I have come to realized that being educated westernally at times makes one more retarded in thoughts and sensitivities. Only a few uses education as a shield against gullibility. Extending the celebrity idolization to consumption, the crux of such a culture of idolatry is predicated on mass consumerism and on hyper-capitalism where the consumer is positioned as a fan and the celebrity idol represents an objectified fantasy. Further still,   the popularity of juicing, cleanses, detox diets, beauty, anti-aging products, gambling, alcohol and some other insensitive practices can be linked directly to celebrity endorsement. 

Audiences give power to celebrities through such displays of adoration and the acceptance of totem-like symbols that each celebrity represents and symbolizes, and these manufactured for public consumption at many levels of culture and economy. Such totems become unmistakable and influence the way young people come to view of themselves. The Quran reminds us that an idol is someone or something that occupies the place of God in your life. God is he to whom one turns with love, hope, trust, and from whom purpose and values are understood. The false idols of celebrity, of social position, of self-aggrandizement, of wealth, take the place of God in one’s life and provide man a false sense of identity, meaning, value, purpose, love, significance and security. 

Allah reminds us, “weak is both the seeker and the sought after” {Quran 22, verse 73}. The Quran informs us that man can be thoughtlessly side-tracked in paying homage to displays of achievement and spectacles and altogether fall short in recognition of the wondrous happenings around him, each of which call attention to the marvel of God’s majesty.