Fame-iness : Meghan Daum

 Fame-iness  :  Meghan Daum

BA, BABSW 1st Year

Compulsorry English

According to Daum famous is the status of being well known and easily recognized by the people. They are not seen in public places easily and assumed to have a special life. She defines a celebrity as a person who is very famous and not as a real person. She differentiates between  actual fame and fame-iness

She asserts “it’s pretty clear that it’s never been a worse time to be famous” which means famous people can grab the attention easily either they do a good deed or bad. One can become famous even without talent because people are interested in scandals and shocking, repulsive behavior. So there is a big competition. Because talented people are competing with notorious people for their humiliating behavior.

Daum thinks today’s celebrities as different from those of years ago. Years ago one has to labor hard to be famous and become a celebrity.  They had to make a strenuous effort to achieve fame. Like an actor had to do auditions and musicians had to play in a club for free before achieving fame. There is no more a household name but today’s celebrity has niche audiences. She sees this change in a negative way.

She explains about the tabloid targeted exploits. They are the one who is cashing minor personal matters. There are some media gathering too much attention to trivial matters that results in negative attention. An example of such exploits is the channels especially YouTubers from Nepal. They are bringing out the petty domestic topic at the attention of a group of people. They publicize minor disputes among family members and friends.

While defining fame, she claims that it is no longer depends solely on acceptance from the masses. For instance, medium like Youtube, American Idol, and My Space provide more new opportunities for untalented and annoying people. The audience of these people is a niche audience who follows an artist who creates experimental music that isn’t geared toward a general audience.

The positive side of the democratization of fame is that they provide new opportunities for genuinely talented and less conventional people. Which helps them to achieve success.

According to Daum, there is a difference between actual fame and fame-iness. Actual fame includes talent and hard work whereas fame-iness requires little more than a willingness to humiliate oneself.

Comprehension1.According to Daum, What does it mean to be famous?According to Daum being famous means being unskilled, untalented, andannoying.2.How does Daum define a celebrity?Daum defines a celebrity as someone who is easily recognized in the street andwho has made an effort to become well known through his or her work and talent.3.What does Daum mean in paragraph 7 when she says, “it’s pretty clear that it’snever been a worse time to be famous”?I think Daum feels that being a celebrity now days aren’t as valuable as it used tobe. It’s not about talent anymore, and there is a lot of competition.4.How does Daum see today’s celebrities as different from those of years ago? Doesshe see things as positive or negative?In my opinion I think that Daum sees todays celebrities in a negative light. Backthen celebrities had to be talented and make a huge effort. Now days it seems likeanyone can become famous regardless if they have talent. I believe Daum sees allnew celebrities as untalented people.