Page 169 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

Audience, Performance, and Celebrity 153

not for the British Broadcasting Corporation, and the BBC would not have
known of Elvis unless savvy music industry entrepreneurs had not seen a
gold mine in Elvis ’ talent and marketed it successfully to the world. But
they were the medium, not the message. The talent and the aura they saw
in Elvis were what attracted Don, and although the pop music magazines
enabled him to collect cut - out images of the stars, it was his attachment,

his identification with the stars that prompted him to listen to the music

and to buy the magazines in the first place, not successful marketing. Why
did Don develop such strong attachments to popular celebrities? It gave
him companions amongst his male friends who liked similar things and
who shared his taste. So it made him feel that he belonged to a community,
just as in the past Irish monks might have bonded in monastic communi-
ties over their favorite religious celebrities such as Jesus. But did it change
his life and provide him with a sense of personal direction, a guide for
action in the world, in the way that religious celebrity culture did in the
past and still does for many? In a way, yes. “ Don ’ t be cruel to a heart that ’ s

blue ” might be said to be Elvis ’ first commandment, just as his tenth might
be said to be “ We can ’ t go on together with suspicious minds; and we can ’ t
build our dreams on suspicious minds. ” This may be the religious moral
wisdom of a fallen popular culture imbued with polluted venal commercial
interests, but it is comparable to traditional religious instruction in its
ability to provide moral direction in everyday life. By now, we all know not
to steal (those of us wealthy enough not to have to, at least), but we don ’ t
all know not to interact with our loved ones in a suspicious way if we want
happiness in life.
Scholars who have interviewed fans of celebrities such as Elvis report
that celebrities are more than simply objects of interest. Knowing them is
a little like knowing a friend or an intimate, and for many it is probably a
way of compensating for the fact that modern life has shed older forms of
small town or village or extended family community. People lead more
dispersed lives these days than before, and they are more likely as a result
to be isolated or to live alone. But even those with full interpersonal lives
enjoy celebrity knowledge and celebrity attachment because we all lead
imaginary lives along with the ones we lead when we engage with the real
world around us. What distinguishes humans from animals is intelligence
and imagination, and we use those to create more complex communities
than animals are capable of creating. Even when we are not in the presence
of those in our personal community of friends or family members, we
think of them, we imagine them, and we fantasize about them. Our normal