Marie antoinette and the modern celebrity

Marie Antoinette, in her role as Dauphine and, subsequently, Queen of France, was undoubtedly the most famous French woman - if not person - of her time, and as such could be considered an early focus of what is now a firmly established concept: celebrity culture. Although the nature of her monarchical role perhaps more pertinently aligns her with certain members of the current British royal family - such as the Duchess of Cambridge - the degree of her fame debatably renders her more comparable to reality television star Kim Kardashian, or a member of the boy-band One Direction. The celebrity culture identifiable in pre-revolutionary France indisputably still prevails today, but has deepened, mutated and intensified in ways that have rendered its current iteration comparably unrecognisable. Although the concept was obviously prevalent in various forms throughout the intervening years, - perhaps most notably during the golden age of Hollywood - advancements in human connectivity that have come about as recently as the turn of the century have rapidly elevated both the degree of access that the everyman now has to celebrities, and the immediacy with which they are able to obtain it. Even celebrities who don’t subscribe to the notion of their own fame struggle to escape tabloid intrusion or retain a semblance of a private life.

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The concept of celebrity in and of itself is arguably bizarre, and clearly one that the people of France ultimately became deeply disenchanted with. The causation of Marie Antoinette’s infamy, and particularly the direct link to the Divine Right of Kings, could now be interpreted as outdated and archaic, but was debatably no less justified when compared to the parameters that constitute the modern requirements of fame. Whilst the majority of individuals whom society would now objectively consider to be famous are so due to their specific professions – actors, singers, musicians – others have gained prolific notoriety solely thanks to the manner in which the media and popular culture seize upon their behaviour or appearance and elevate them to infamy. Reality stars are perhaps an example of this phenomenon, as well as indicative of a debatably disturbing assertion of current societal values; fame is increasingly both perceived and sold as something worthy of aspiration. 

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All too often modern celebrities are portrayed to the masses as some sort of flawless ideal; an achievable, heightened, better “normal”, but the concept is, in itself, inherently absurd and abnormal. It’s a notion that has been cultivated as a commodity and capitalised upon by brands, advertisers, and the tabloid media as another means of selling and profiting.  Notable figures are employed and engineered as an appealing mouthpiece for whichever monolith happens to have solicited them to push a specific product. In an age where a real estate developer can become an eponymous brand, can become a reality TV star, and can ultimately become leader of the free world, “celebrity” has never been more powerful. One must wonder whether the current state of affairs is simply the beginning of a new iteration of the culture, or whether it is perhaps a tipping point that will force modern society to consider who and what we continue to value. 

 

Bibliography 

 

Besser, H. (2016) ‘Impact of Celebrity Culture: A Thought Piece’, Huffington Post. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/haley-besser/impact-of-celebrity-cultu_b_12226140.html

(Accessed 21st October 2017). 

 

French, G. (2017) ‘the cult of celebrity: how sinister is our obsession with fame?’, i-D. Available at: https://i-d.vice.com/en_au/article/mbvdg3/the-cult-of-celebrity-how-sinister-is-our-obsession-with-fame (Accessed 21st  October 2017). 

 

Monbiot, G. (2016) ‘Celebrity isn’t just harmless fun – it’s the smiling face of the corporate machine’, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/20/celebrity-corporate-machine-fame-big-business-donald-trump-kim-kardashian (Accessed 21st  October 2017).