Why Celebrities Are Important To Us

The death of Robin Williams this week made a very big impact on a lot of people. I too, was stunned by the death of one of the greatest comedians of our time. It seemed like for more than a day after he died, all the sources and social media were full of Robin Williams tributes, and it seemed to reach much farther than when a number of other celebrities died. It may be useful to us to stop and consider for a moment why celebrities are so important to us.
If you look at the day's most popular searches on Google, MSN, Yahoo and other places, what you typically will see are a bunch of celebrities and odd stories. Sometimes big news like a major storm or a catastrophic event gets in there. You may or may not be surprised to discover that they are dominated by celebrities. TV & movie stars, pop music stars, models and athletes typically dominate the searches.

I find that I am unfamiliar with most of these celebrities. I have to look at the links to get any idea of who they are. Probably because most of them are not in movies or TV shows I have watched or in music that I listen to, and since I don't watch sports, few of the names ring a bell.
Robin Williams though had even greater recognition because he has made so many funny movies and did such great stand up routines that probably most people have seen him more than once. How many people were inspired to try careers in comedy because they saw Robin Williams? I don't know, but I am going to guess that quite a few did.

And that is one thing that celebrities do. They can inspire us. Of course, today there are also people who are celebrities who are famous simply because they have been on TV. They have not created or invented anything or performed some amazing, record setting feat. Perhaps those types of celebrities inspire in a different way. I am not sure what that is.

But what does this fact tell us about our culture? It is simply about the power of storytelling. Many people find stories about how the economy really works or trying to understand politics to be too stressful and complicated. So the story of some girl becoming a famous actress and marrying a handsome actor is easy to follow. So is the story of the downfall of a celebrity, especially if they were busted or embarrassed by something we really enjoy doing ourselves. When a star gets drunk and makes a fool of themselves, we can relate, because most of us have done that at one time or another. When a star is seen in serial marriages or affairs, we can relate to that too, because half of all married people have also been divorced people. What that says to us is that we do have a lot in common with famous people. The difference is that info about their problems and situations are broadcast and ours are not.

Of course, there are always those fake stories, like stars who pose for photos that they know will be controversial just to get publicity. Or saying outlandish things just to get publicity. But then we always know that storytellers also embellish and exaggerate for the sake of a good story.

You might think it is sad that more people care about what or who a pop star is doing than what is the significance of new banking or investing practices, what the truth is about fracking, or why the newest conflict between nations came up. But there is a sensible explanation for that.

For example, I have always thought than any financial deal that is hard to explain and hard to understand is meant to be deceptive. In other words, they do not really want you to follow the story line. Lots of people may wonder why something like derivative trading even exists, or whether it was a mistake to change banking laws or whether that should be or can be changed.
How much easier it is for us to follow the story of an actor who suddenly makes lots of money and ends up in a downward spiral of drug and alcohol addiction with revolving stints in rehab. Or the fabulously rich girl who gets off on going to bars and partying hard just like a lot of people like to do after work. It makes them easier for us to relate to. Or the athlete who gets millions of dollars a year to play ball and somehow managed to waste it all and end up broke. We also follow the upbeat stories of stars who use some of their celebrity and wealth to help orphans and starving people, or help build houses for poor and homeless people. We enjoy the stories of those who are still productive and aging gracefully, but these are not as exciting as the spectacular crash and burn stories. Most of us have lives that are up and down, and so we can relate to even the most famous, wealthy and popular people having up and down lives too.
 
Just like we all know stories from mythology because we see the gods and goddesses with both greatness and flaws just like we have. I may not be up to date on the most contemporary stars, but I do know some stories.

People Google over pop stars for the same reasons that people have enjoyed mythology and fairy tales for generations and centuries before there was an internet.

Which brings us to the fascinating study of mythology, which has played a part in our lives for millennia. Even the earliest people related to mythology the same way as contemporary people relate to celebrities. 
Think about how today people may be inspired to try their hand at comedy because of Robin Williams, how many people may be inspired to become inventors because of Steven Jobs, how many people might be inspired to become actors because of Lauren Bacall or Helen Mirren? How many people have been inspired to become singer/songwriters because of Bob Dylan or artists because of Andy Warhol or Georgia O'Keeffe, or chefs because of Julia Child or Wolfgang Puck? How many people got inspired to do charity work because of Jimmy Carter or Bono? 

These people have flaws, just like us, and in most cases, new stories about them keep popping up long after they are dead, some about good things they did and some about the bad things they did. Their complexity is fascinating.

Joseph Campbell, who is famous for his books about mythology and achieved his greatest recognition on the PBS specials he did with Bill Moyers, was of the opinion that all mythology was just a bunch of stories made up by people, that all of those characters simply were products of imagination.

I think that Campbell was absolutely wrong. He also stated the opinion that all god and goddess stories from around the world were all just versions of the same story. I think he was absolutely wrong on that point too. I do appreciate that he inspired people to study mythology and think about it some more.

But here's where he was wrong. In the ancient world, there were also people who did great things, and after they died, people kept telling stories about them until they grew to even greater proportions, and the stories were known far and wide.

In each ethnic group in this world, in order for them to survive, they had to have among them some great warriors, artists, tricksters (the first comedians), healers, builders and storytellers. So there were naturally some similarities and some differences in the stories for the same reasons that there were similarities and differences among people.

How many of those ancient people were inspired by stories from their mythologies and folklore? How many did things to advance civilization because they listened to the stories? Great people from those ancient cultures did amazing and heroic things and people continued to tell stories about them.

Like the celebrity stories we have today, maybe some are true and some are not exactly true. For example, perhaps the story in Irish literature about how their music was invented is somewhat fantastic, but somehow, somebody way back there did create Irish music, and maybe those stories do draw on the roots for their origins.

Perhaps the story in the Norse myths about how Odin got the runes is a fantastical embellishment, or maybe it is the truth or close to it. What we do know is that people have had the runes for many centuries now, and obviously people made that happen.

Stories say that Francis Drake used magic to defeat the Spanish armada. There is no proof whether he did or didn't, but his victory is a fact and the stories still are told.

The Johnny Appleseed story is told one way by Disney, and his story is told very differently by the great contemporary author Michael Pollan. 

Some people still debate about whether Shakespeare wrote his plays and sonnets, and one of the roots of that skepticism seems to be that some people are unwilling to believe that someone who grew up in a working class family could have written such great works later in life. Whatever you believe, the plays are still great shows, and the poems remain among the most beautiful.

So you see, all through history, celebrities have played important parts in our societies, and they always will.

Music, Our Portal and Passport to Other States of Being

Music is a galvanizing force for bringing people together. The energy of music can bring people together quickly, creating good feelings, warmth, humor, lightheartedness, joy and pleasure.

Music can also bring healing. Why do you think that massage therapists, reiki healers, chiropractors and other body workers and therapists always have soft music playing while they are working on you? It helps a person relax, soothes the muscles and relieves tension, making it easier for the therapist to do their work. The end result is that it helps them get things that are out of place back into place.

Haven't we all had the experience of music acting as an aphrodisiac? You've heard the phrase mood music. Certain music is just more sensuous blending effectively with the rhythms of sexual pleasure and some music is especially created for creating the romantic aura of sweet sentiments and romance. Our choice in music can help us savor our sensual experiences.

It is also an aid to digestion, which is why soothing music is played in restaurants. It can also stimulate the flow of healing cells and energies in our bodies. Yes, it is true that many restaurants may also play very upbeat, faster paced music, and that is useful to them when they are trying to move the crowds along quicker.

Why do you think that in the military that training is done to chants and cadence? It bonds the group together and war cries, chants and shouts can encourage acts of valor. Taps is played at military funerals and bagpipes are played at police funerals because they send a signal to the consciousness of those who hear them at a deep level, delivering the final notice of a person's passing without the use of words.

If you watch sporting events, how common is it for singing and chanting to be used to inspire the performances of the athletes? From the World Cup to the World Series, music is connected to our games using the energies of the fans to support and encourage the individuals on the field.

All of these things happen because music is a portal. It connects us with other people, it is a universal form of communication, which is why it is included on space probes we have launched. There have been many instances where people of different cultures who could not speak each other's languages have been able to play music together. There have been many new recordings in recent years where we can hear people of different ethnic groups bridge the gap by finding ways for the musical idioms to come together and play. There have also been popular recordings where people are singing in languages we do not speak or understand, yet we can appreciate the sheer beauty of the blending of
their harmonies and voices.

What about as a portal for the imagination? how many symphonies, ballets and operas have themes drawn from great myths, fairy tales and folklore? Why is it that sacred chants, whether the Gregorian, Sufi, Hindu, Hebrew or any other can immediately transport the listener into an altered state of consciousness? At Renaissance Faires the period music is just as important in creating the feeling of that time and space as the costumes and decorations.

How many times when you are watching a movie can you tell whether coming actions and scenes are going to be sinister, tragic, hilarious or romantic because they are foreshadowed by the music? Composers and directors have long known how music can help them create the overall effects they desire in their work.

Music can energize to make work lighter as well. Think about chants that people have done at work so that they could get enough of a boost to get things done. This is the common thread between the work chants of the slaves, the chants of the sailors, the cadence of the soldiers, cheerleaders in sports, chants of the warriors, songs people sing at harvests or plantings, and so many other examples. Music unleashes energy we didn't even know we had and makes that available to us when we have tough jobs to do. Sometimes I chant and sing during the work day simply to relieve tension and inspire me to keep going.

The use of simple percussion and the human voice have been used as tools for transformation by the shamans of every culture on this planet. All the way back to caveman days, drums, rattles and chants were part of the fabric of the rituals the shamans led because it was believed that those beats from the drums and rattles were like stairways or ladders which they would use to travel into other worlds. The belief that sounds were essential for contacting the spirit world have been with us all this time, and we know that when a person is dying that the first sense they lose is sight and the last sense they lose is hearing.

Music is a portal that opens the way for us to heal, shift into sacred space, to become engaged romantically with another person, to build excitement and energy, give us courage, give us strength, helps us grieve and to celebrate.

From the heartbeat we first know in the womb, the sounds we make when we go to war or go to work, and the songs we sing at weddings, funerals, the music we hear when we make love and the sounds that surround us in the world, we find our way to the places we want to go with music.