American Celebrity

‘We do not measure a culture by its output of undisguised trivialities, but by what it claims as significant.’ Neal Postman, Amusing ourselves to Death, 1985.

With the recent news that Whitney Houston died, I thought it appropriate to update this post.

At some point in our recent history, ‘celebrity’ replaced ‘hero’ in the American pop-culture lexicon.  Now in America, being famous trumps doing something noble and the cult of personality is the ultimate measure of success. The death of Michael Jackson on June 25th, 2009, brought an unprecedented amount of 24/7 news coverage and an endless parade of talking heads, associates and parasites, each one positioning themselves as a unique conveyor of Jackson tidbits.

In witnessing this depressing spectacle unfold; I’ve realized that 'American Celebrities' follow a unique lifecycle.

1st Stage: Create. We create the myth of celebrity by hoisting undue praise and print: witness the check-out rags breathless photos, or the advent of tabloid ‘news’ shows. Whether or not we physically purchase some item related to the celebrity doesn’t matter, for we are still giving mental space to them.  People with no vested interest still have opinions on Brittany’s shaved head rampage, or Brad Pitt’s latest appearance. Most celebrities’ careers end at this stage: just too many interlopers and only so much cultural bandwidth.

2nd Stage: Feed.  In this stage the celebrity acts in ways that are appropriate to them, but improper to everyone else. Celebrities become caricatures of themselves, trapping themselves within their personas and roles. Sports stars’ sexual assaults, DUI mug shots, Domestic Abuse allegations, leaked video tapes, etc…  All are necessary evils and necessary steps on the road to American Celebrity.

3rd Stage: Kill.  At some point the myth implodes under its own weight.  Jimmy Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, et al…  Pressure, whether internal or external, causes the celebrity to act self-destructively as the weight of excess is too much to bear. Whether their life ended well before it should -like Michael Jackson, or at a more natural point -like Marlon Brando, each left a mess that outlived them.

4th Stage: Mourn. We cry and mourn as if we had a personal connection to the celebrity.  Indeed a bond exists, albeit a vicarious connection bereft of intimacy and closeness. We substitute our information of the celebrity for actual knowledge, and grieve like we’ve lost a friend.  Public displays of sorrow allow us to cement our relationship, thus immortalizing the figure in our cultural mind and validating our feelings towards the recently deceased.

Book Review: Religious Nuts Political Fanatics by Robert Vagacs

Excellent birthday gift, thanks to Carolyn for this delightful gem of a book! Vagacs is more then a fan of U2, he is a follower of their music and their theology. Religious Nuts Political Fanatics isn’t an evolutionary overview of U2’s spiritual songs; rather it alerts the reader to the sweeping Christological and Eschatological themes found throughout U2’s considerable body of work.

A vibrant Christ-centered theology emerges from the pages of Religious Nuts Political Fanatics. The title comes from a lyrical line in the song ‘New York’, from the All That You Can’t Leave Behind -2000 album. I found Chapter Four, The Babylonian State of Zooropa, to be especially compelling. This chapter explored the three albums released in the 1990’s and the emotional and spiritual discontent found within the lyrics. Achtung Baby -1991, Zooropa -1993, and Pop -1997. Just as the Babylonian exile caused many faithful to abandon God, one can argue that U2’s 1990’s releases reflected the bands spiritual exile.

Religious Nuts Political Fanatics is a great addition to the U2 scholarship canon. A great companion book which explores the personal side of U2’s theological underpinnings is Steve Stockman’s, Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2.

Poets, Prophets and Preachers Conference -Day 2

Overseen at the Poets, Prophets and Preachers Conference, a T-shirt that read on the front: 'Calvinism: This T-shirt chose me.' On the Back 'Arminianism: I chose this T-shirt.'

Poets, Prophets and Preachers Conference -Day 1

In Grand Rapids for a few days with my friend Sean, for a Preaching Conference organized by the much celebrated Rob Bell. A few initial thoughts: Clearly there is a hip dress code, and evidently someone hasn’t filled me in. Many tats and piercings, vintage T’s, faux-hawks, man-bags, and everyone wearing sandals.

You know you are not at your father’s Pastor’s Conference when the Official Preaching Conference Map of Grand Rapids lists the favorite local pubs. When Sean and I were getting our stuff out of the car, a group of fellow conference attendees walked past, with one guy carrying the group humidor! During the first session a guy yells out, in response to something Bell said, ‘Hell Yeah!’ We are not in Kansas anymore! Sadly these comments reveal more about me, then they do the group that I was a part of...

I had thought that this would be a smaller group, with more of a regional attendance, and yet people came as far away as Australia and Sweden as well as both coasts for this conference… testament to probably both the drawing power of Rob Bell and the sincere desire for people to step up their preaching skills.

Rob Bell spoke for the opening session, told the story of his first ever preaching experience and reviewed the various ways that people respond to our sermons. He challenged us to see Preaching in a new light, to realize that even Jesus’ first sermon in his hometown brought the people out to kill him, and that at many times, we may be faced with less-then-positive reactions to what we have to say. The main challenge was to never present the Word w/o proper preparation and a proper fire in the belly…