Why Men Obsess over other Men called Celebrity

NB: This article was written 18 months from this day of posting. I just did a minor revision before posting it on this blog page. 

"A Celebrity is a person who is widely honoured and acclaimed by people"

The making of a celebrity is a process that involves the people that claim the individual as a celebrity. Essentially, one cannot be a celebrity in a certain community without the support of a large representation of the citizens of that community. Thus, a celebrity is well known and accepted in the community. Obsession, however, is different from acceptance and recognition, these are normal. Obsession is irrational.

It can be readily observed that obsession with celebrities increase when people experience hardships such as heartbreaks, riots, war or recession. Human nature dictates that people look for an escape during times of turmoil. This escape does not mean a change of location but rather an activity they can fall back on to take their minds off the troubles and harsh realities. These activities are often sports and games, music, radio and television. Invariably, people tend to associate themselves to the popular figures of the activity, the celebrities. Often, they resolve to discuss the lives of their favourite celebrities; to set their minds away from the harsh conditions which they face.

Also, a popular way of settling a dispute between two parties is to involve a third party which both conflicting parties know and respect. In times of war and riots within a country, concerts and other activities involving celebrities are organised. This is usually in a bid to create some form of unity and bonding between parties. A popular example of this in Nigeria was the Festival of Arts and Culture in the 70’s, which came up soon after the Nigerian civil war. It involved bringing arts and artistes from the conflicting societies of Nigeria together under one exhibition. Also, peace concerts and rallies involving celebrities are often useful in calming nerves during turmoils. The effect of the Tuface Idibia concert in 2009 on the Jos inter-ethnic conflicts was highly noticeable. Another celebrity show which had immense benefit was the Kanu Nwankwo football fest which involved football stars from within and outside the nation.

Celebrities tend to direct their work and art to represent the harsh realities being faced by the people. This increases the admiration people have for them. It gives the feeling that even those admired in high places and positions feel the suffering of the masses and general populace. The desire for a steady place in one’s life often leads one to assume a celebrity as a model of virtue. One gets drawn to believing the lyrics of the song or the script of the play being depicted by the celebrity. The uplifting derived from associating with the act of the celebrity leads gradually leads to a fondness of the celebrity and an obsession with the celebrity.
Though the obsession with celebrities in Nigeria is much less than that in the western world, one cannot ignore the presence of such obsession. The appreciation of celebrity is growing as a result of the increasing television and social networking culture. Programs such as Big Brother Africa, Tinsel, Naija Sings, and Nigerian Idol continually breed celebrity. Also, the growth and increased acceptance of the football, home video and music industries in Nigeria contribute greatly to the celebrity acceptance. 

Recognition, respect and loyalty to a celebrity are acceptable. However, a firm line needs to be drawn to ensure that actions resulting from these are not irrational, especially in adolescents. A recent example of such obsession and irrationality is the self wrist-cutting by fans of Justin Bieber over alleged use of ‘weed’ by the celebrity.

What is a blog?

NB: This is a fairly long and boring prose. Kindly do not read when feeling sleepy.

What is a blog? That is a very basic way to ask for the meaning or definition of a blog. I asked myself this question at exactly 09:41hrs +1:00 GMT/UT on the 25^th day of the month of June in the year 2011, with a tolerance of ±10mins depending on how accurate my PC time is. I asked this question not because I expected someone to give me the answer, but because I wanted to give myself the answer.

There are two of two ways I could possible answer this question. I will refer to the first ‘two ways’ as “length” and the second ‘two ways’ as “source”. 

Now putting this two together, I have:

1.a A short answer without research or reference

1.b A long answer without research or reference

I will not list 2.a and 2.b at this point, simply because I believe my reader is intelligent enough to figure out what they are.

Now to give my answers to the question:

1.a :

A blog is a writing of practically anything for whatever and any purpose posted on a web page or other e-media that can be shared

1.b :

A blog is an essay written by an author to express a feeling or desire within him or her. The style often times informal could also be formal. Most blogs I read are however informal as the authors cannot be bothered with transforming their informal ruminations into formal wordings.

Also, the style could be strict or laced with comical interjections. I often classify the strict blogs as “the newspaper refused to publish” or “I don’t believe I can get published”. I usually find such highly dissatisfying. If I want to read a comported bland article, I will pick up the daily Tribune or Aláròyé.

The very numerous authors of blogs, which ironically now includes me, write for varying reasons. Some write to pass on information about a subject or experience which they have researched to their readers. A few write as a form of advertisement for their business (Check out my blog on www.... is more like check out my products on www...). Some write out of provocation on certain issues in life, wishing the government would read and act on the ideas proposed in their blog. This type of blog is my favourite (my favourite authors Raimi, Gboyega and Farai), discussing critical issues such as Power, Politics and of course NYSC. A few bloggers, made up mostly of authors residing in Lagos, write as a means of anger management and madness control. After going through the rigours and dangers of the ‘mad’ drivers, ‘crazy’ conductors, ‘frustrating’ bosses, ‘slow’ maids and ‘over-demanding’ girlfriends, result to writing a journal, daily, weekly, monthly or just randomly to palliate the urge to go ‘gaga’ or ‘Gaga’. Some write plainly and simply for fun. These write about the fun and funny events of their life, their fantasies and dreams. A limited few write absolute and incomprehensible nonsense. You may say, “How can you call what someone else has thought and laboured to write nonsense”. Why can’t I, if the initial and sole intent of the author is to put gibberish into writing. I refer to these as the Terry G of blogging. Finally, a lot write for some form of acceptance or just so they can say “I also blog”. These are the sort that have just one posting, written over six months ago.

I am not certain of which of these categories I fall under. I think it is the fun and fantasies category, but I am certain some of you would think it is the madness control category.

The frequency of blogging varies by author. Some authors post blogs daily, others at random. Some blogs are written as a form of journal following a prescribed timeline or series of events, while others are purely unrelated writings of and on different and varying issues.

I do not know of a defined length for blogs. However, I am of the opinion that a blog should be between 200 and 2000 words. That is a fairly general standard which most text bloggers keep to. For those who say tweeting on ‘Twitter’ is blogging, this length definition kind of excludes tweeting since tweets are limited to just 140 characters (approximately 30 words).

Now, shifting slightly from writing about what I am writing or about me the writer to you the reader. Blog readers read blogs for varying reasons. Some read for the information, some for the entertainment. Some read because they have been asked to by friends, some just come across the blog incidentally. Some readers ‘follow’ particular bloggers, while others just read any blog. Some make definite time out to read blogs, while others just read at boring times of their life.

I read mostly for the purpose of encouraging the authors. I implore you to keep reading my blog, even if it’s merely for this same reason, and kindly post a comment. I hope I am not asking for too much.

I will not discuss 2.a and 2.b in this writing, simply because I believe my reader is intelligent enough to check a dictionary, encyclopaedia, wikipedia, about, google, bing, or whatever other references that could be useful for research. Also, this writing is about my thoughts and not that of some Mrs. Oxford, Miss WordWeb, Mr Encarta or Mr. Wikipedia.

Before I conclude, I must hereby fault my initial assertions which refer to blogs as writing. There are actually Image blogs, though they often go along with some text or writing to express the story being conveyed adequately.

To conclude, I feel I should inform you that this is the last sentence of this blog.

Why the Heck did I wake up at six-thirty-two?

Hello,

My name is Seyi. I am the only son and the only child of my parents. I am in my late twenties, I am not married and I still live with my parents (Don't ask why, I'll tell you already). My dad is very emotional and he calls me 'my miracle child'. The type that can't watch NTA Newsline or read the Sunday Sun because he'll definitely find a cause to cry. The type that walks me to the door every morning and hugs me tightly when I get back every evening. I cant stand to see him all dressed in his aso-oke agbada crying on my wedding day. Asides that, the truth really is, I cant afford to live on my own, I have multiple miserable multiple teaching jobs

Well, It's Saturday morning, the only day of my excessively gruesome and boring week i can 'oversleep'. I Can actually wake up at 8.00a.m without literally jumping off my mattress, which is just slightly thicker than the coverlet over it. I gain consciousness but i feel odd, it can't be 8:00a.m, I just slept a few minutes ago, didn't I? I am unwilling to open my eyes less I wouldn't be able to go back to bed if I truly haven't overslept yet. Where is that phone of mine? It should be right under my pillow, next to my sleeping beads. Yope... there it is! Holding down the '*' my Nokia 3310 proves it, it says "The time is six thirty two". Wow! How the heck can this happen to me? Why the heck would this happen to me? I just have to continue sleeping.

I don't understand what you are saying..." ... that's my dad! He's talking at a 500% amplification than he would normally and a 700% amplification than he would on a Saturday morning before 8:00a.m. Now I have to get up to find out why?

So, I am off my bed. A 1 metre walk gets me past my room door to the passage. I hear my Uncle's unique coarse voice. Also louder than normal, but not clear at all. I can't make out what he's saying, which is unusual. Our noisy freezer isn't even helping out. In the background is my mum's voice. Gosh! this can't be my mum, she's talking at an audio level the neighbours can't hear. This early morning discussion doesn't seem like a nice one. The brothers seem to be arguing hotly with my mum sobbingly interfering. I am supposed to be asleep. Should I just go back to my room and ignore this discussion? No! I can't. I am off my bed and deprived of my oversleep already. But I'm sure this discussion is none of my business.

Well, my dad solves my dilemma. His voice in one sentence drowns the others and silences the noise of the freezer

"What do you mean that Seyi is not my SON? You're saying he's my NEPHEW!"

Now I know why the heck I woke up at six thirty two!