video- www.youtube.com/watch?v=1/88M9WTe23N
Seminar Question
1) When you have wealth are you more prone to cheating? Is there more pressure on you?
2)Will Gatsby always miss Daisy if it doesn't work out between the two?
3)Who will take the blame John or Kate? Both? Who deserves the blame?
4)Who would keep the kid; Tom or Daisy if they got divorced?
Blog Question: Why do celebrities continually make unethical mistakes? Why does our society celebrate these flawed people?
I believe that it is the pressure that is put on celebrities that cause them to make unethical mistakes. They are pressured in to stuff and because of their popularity they know that they can usually get away with what they do. Also i believe that everyone makes unethical mistakes but only celebrity mistakes are ever heard about because of their popularity. Also everyone wants to watch others fall therefore love to see the trouble that celebrities get in.
ReplyDeleteAre society celebrates celebrities mistakes because they like the drama in their lives. They want to know whats happening in Jon and Kate's marriage and love to gossip about whats going on. Our society wants to know everything about their favorite stars and therefore they celebrate them even with mistakes.
I do not think celebrities make more mistakes than an average American. Everybody makes mistakes and just because celebrities are under the spotlight, it makes it appear that they are always doing something wrong. Our society likes to point out the flaws of others, because that is what interests Americans, which is wrong! Paparazzi likes to point out how this celebrity littered, or that celebrity swore.. haven't we all? It frustrates me so much that celebrities get criticized so much for making the same mistakes that average Americans make. Kate and Jon are both judged on the fact that they break up their families by cheating and so on... the sad thing is so many Americans have also betrayed their families. I like to think that the reason t.v. shows, or magazines point out these flaws is to try and get people to not make the same mistakes. Our society likes to see things fail so that we know that we are not the only ones failing. Instead of being happy for someone's wealth and fame, we become jealous and try to find ways to bring them down. This is a big problem in our society that needs to be solved, but can it?
DeleteI like your optimism that we expose celebrities flaws as message of how not to behave.
DeleteI am reminded of Tom's conquest attitude that we want what we can't have and we want things to prevent others from having them in our selfish greed and need to feel important and significant or even superior. Sad but true.
DeleteI believe that the situations and media surrounding celebrities expose their less moral actions and decisions. Due to their popularity, many people believe that these celebrities should be the iconic role model for children. With the popularity as well, celebrities believe that they can get away with actions of a lesser moral actions. As Ben said in class, "What people love more than a hero is to watch him/her fall." It is the same with celebrities. People want to know their deep dark secrets, and they love when a celebrity takes a wrong step. Many people love to gossip. The media exposes the darker secrets of celebrities because they know it will sell better. If it didn't, you would not have the images on the magazines of the latest scandal of celebrities.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Ben and numerous authors target the tragic and the failures. Our sad state feeling better about ourselves or relating to inadequacy ?
DeleteI agree with simon when he talks about pressure, these atheletes have their every move watched by young kids and people looking up to them. They think because everyone looks up to them they are put on this pedestal and are higher then everybody else. Like when Gatsby waves the white card to get out of getting a ticket from the police. I think that everyone makes these mistakes but if i were to make the same mistake as a pro athelete did, the pro atheletes mistake would be made a bigger deal because of their status and popularity. Many people in todays like seeing celebraties fail, like Lebron, everyone wants to see him fail and not win his NBA title, and so when celebraties do make mistake everyone loves to gossip about it and make it a bigger deal then it really is.
ReplyDeleteIn today's society celeberties, superstars and those who are famous are precied as larger/better than life. However, for many of them they start to believe they are truely larger than life. They think they do not have to play by te same rules as those of us average people who must abide by the law. This blurs their vision while decsion making, so while high on life (or other things) these celeberties make decision that they would not make if they were not so famous and put up on the petestool. For example, Gatsby knows some of the choices he is making are wrong but he has gotten away with somany others things in his life, becasue of his status, that he does not seem to find the problme with them anymore.
ReplyDeleteCelebrities continue to make unethical mistakes because they are human. They are just like us, but because they are famous, they get a lot of heat for their wrong-doings. For example, thousands of girls are in abusive relationships, but for the most part the boyfriends do not get into trouble. In the Chris Brown/Rihanna situation, because they are famous, he did get in a lot of trouble. In Hollywood, a numerous amount of celebrities do drugs (ex. Lindsey Lohan) and get into trouble. A lot of other people do drugs in the country, and don't get into trouble because they are not on magazines and have paparazzi following them. I think our society celebrates these flawed people because of their work, not for their actions. I do not celebrate all of the celebrities who do things wrong, but i judge most of them for their contributions to the movie/music/athletic industries.
ReplyDeleteI think we put WAY too much pressure on celebrities today. There is almost no where celebrities can go to get away from the constant cameras and reporters. Things that would not be a big deal for average people seem to be huge deals when the people are celebrities. If a normal man had been seen with a woman that's not his wife, nobody would have cared. But because it was a TV star, John took a big hit because he always has the spotlight on him and is always followed. I think that Gatsby would miss Daisy if they didn't work out just like he missed her when they didn't work out the first time. I do not believe that anything would change and he would get more material possesions and throw more parties to get her attention. If they got a divorce, I think Daisy would get the kid just because she is the mother. More often than not, mothers get custody of the children even if the father has better living conditions and cares more. I do not think either Tom or Daisy would be a good parent for the child to live with, as the custody battle would probably be more about who gets to call the child "mine"
ReplyDeleteI would care and I am actually more disturbed by the fact that Daisy doesn't stop after manslaughter and a total destruction of life.
DeleteCelebrities continue to make unethical decisions because they can. Living in stardome puts more their mistakes a bigger deal, since they are famous. Situations like the Katie and John happen in everyday life. Also, Gatsby is much like the celebrities of today. He made unethical decisions his whole life in order to get what he wants. He continuously committed crimes and got away with them because of his status. A lot the celebrities today are only recognized for their enethical actions when some have made major beneficial contributions to the world.
ReplyDelete1. I feel that wealth does in a sense make you more prone to cheating or getting the easy way out of things. Gatsby for instance gets out of a speeding ticket because of his wealth and social status. I also do believe that there tends to be more pressure on the wealthy to do continue to do well at what they do and keep a positive social status.
ReplyDelete2. I am sure Gatsby will always think of Daisy no matter where he is or what happens. Daisy seemed to be a huge part of his life given the fact that he dedicated his life to getting out of the poverty he was born into and someday impressing Daisy with his wealth. If Daisy decided to go back with her husband Tom I’m sure it would tear Gatsby apart because of his love for her.
4. I think that if Tom or Daisy were to get divorced, Daisy would keep their child just because I feel that Daisy would take better care of her. Tom just seems too aggressive and irresponsible to take care of a child on his own especially because he is always chasing other women.
Celebrities are definitely under more pressure and have the spotlight put on them whenever one bad decision or mistake is made. Obviously being wealthy does not give anyone the right to commit adultery, but I think that money is definitely a source of power and dominance. Feeling above others, celebrities might feel as if they can get away with things that are frowned upon in society. It is hard for me to say who should take the blame between Kate and Jon. There is so much that goes on behind the cameras and the scripts that many viewers/fans are unaware of. Although Jon did cheat on his wife, and he definitely should take responsibility for that, there were also a lot of other family struggles within that household. Just because Jon and Kate have a TV show and are famous, their situation is blown into large proportions. Although it may not seem like both the husband and wife took part in their downfall as a couple, we should consider the events that go unseen and realize that Kate may also have contributed to this situation. In addition, I believe that Gatsby would have always missed Daisy. Just as she left him as he went to war, Gatsby always held on to his love for Daisy. Gatsby characterizes as a passionate and dedicated character that chases after his dreams. I don’t think he would have given up on something that left such a large impact on his life. Lastly, if Tom and Daisy were to get a divorce, I would imagine that Daisy would keep the baby. Although that idea is frightening because she declared her desire for a “beautiful little fool” of a child earlier in the novel, Daisy does stand as a the maternal figure which is essential for a baby. Also, Tom strikes me as a stubborn and maybe a little boorish, not too promising as a single-parent.
ReplyDeleteCelebrities countinue to make unethical mistakes because they are in the spotlight and the power goes to their heads. When they make unethical mistakes and don't get caught their morals get scewed even more and they keep making unethical decisions. The media also blows up the situation. For example Jon and Kate's situation of divorce and cheating happens with regular people also but because they are celebrities and are seen in the public eye it is a bigger deal. I belive these celebrities are celebrated because of what made them famous not what wrongful things they did after becoming famous.
ReplyDeleteCelebrities constantly make mistakes because people are constantly watching over them. If Brad Pitt likes a certain food one day it could possible be in a magazine somewhere. Constantly being watched causes stress and sometimes that leads them to make stupid or irrational mistakes. Our society celebrates these flawed people because they are simply famous. If a normal every day person likes a certain brand of something no one cares, but if a famous person does it all the sudden becomes news to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think celebrities continue to make unethical decisions simply because they can. Many have so much power and wealth that they get off easy. I think the reason their shortcomings come off so large is because we look up to them too much. Tragedies such as cheating occur everyday with normal human beings. Those people just are not important enough for it to matter. Let's look at Tiger Woods. The only reason why his troubled love life was blown up so large is because he is a role model. Let's look at drugs. Millions of people in the United States do drugs daily; however it is mostly the professional athletes that are the ones getting tested and punished. The only time you will hear about punishment for drugs is if you watch a tv show on the subject. But you see professional baseball players getting suspended all the time for performance enhancing drugs. John and Kate's affairs were big solely because they were famous. I think we celebrate these flawed people because in most cases, the person's level of fame, wealth, and power overshadow his/her wrongdoings. Tiger Woods was and is such a great golfer that some people do not even associate him with cheating anymore (at least I do not). I will forever call him one of the best golfers to ever play the sport, not a cheater.
ReplyDeleteCelebrities often lose sight of what's actually important to them once they finally make it big. They think they have so much power and influence on others that they won't ever lose what they have. Also the fact that American people these days celebrate these flawed celebrities and just use their mistakes for entertainment. This can be directly related to The Great Gatsby because just as society looks to Gatsby to scrutinize, society today looks to people with power to scrutinize as well. Gatsby is under constant criticism throughout the novel and that just ends up putting people like that unnder more unnecessary presure than they already are. These celebrities and athletes are under constant sureveillance by the paparazzi to the point where they almost have no private lives and so they feel the need to start doing things in secrecy to be able to live how they want. The American public today is so engulfed in reality TV and following people's downfalls that the media ends up taking sometimes the littlest mistake and blowing it out of proportion.
ReplyDeletei believe that the reason in which celebrities make such immoral mistakes is that when the spotlight is put on you just as we do to celebrities it causes the celeb to feel in a way untouchable. by being a celeb people allow you to get away with many things in which you would not be able to get away with if you were a normal person. this causes themm to in a way see how far they can push the boundry and see what they can get away with. i also believe that celeb might not be as prone to these mistakes as other might think. i believe that a large part of it is just that they are in the spotlight so a much bigger deal is made out of it when somthing like this happens, there are plenty of non famous people that make the same immoral decisions as celebrities. society is facinated with the super rich and super tallented. and like ben said in the seminar is the only thing a city likes more than a hero is to see the hero fall.
ReplyDelete3. I think Jon will take the blame for the divorce because it was his idea. I also think regardless, Jon will receive most of the blame because they both cheated on each other, but he is the man in the relationship. I feel that men typically take more criticism from others when they cheat even if the women did as well.
ReplyDeleteBlog Question: I also believe that celebrities do not make any more unethical mistakes than the average American would. I agree with Nikki that that everyone makes mistakes, but it only appears that celebrities are constantly making these drastic unethical choices because celebrities are always being watched and bashed by the press. We typically celebrate these celebrities because of their talent or social status. Not all celebrities are “flawed” and not all celebrities are perfect either. They are human beings just like us that sometimes make bad choices that only appear more dramatic and unethical because of who they are.