Gods Behaving Badly - Pete Ward (ch. 4 & 5)

1. Name of author, name of essay/chapter reporting on:

Pete Ward, Gods Behaving Badly, chapters 4 and 5

2. Your articulation of their thesis:

Chapter four outlines the different kinds of gods that celebrity culture creates: good gods, bad gods, saints, narcissistic gods, gods who reflect Greek and Roman myths, gods whose images are so powerful that they remain influential after death, gods who have done nothing to earn their status… the list goes on and on. Throughout the chapter, as Ward describes each different type of celebrity and the way we “worship” them, he stresses the fact that theological religion and the religion of celebrity is not the same – there are no rituals in place, and we do not really respect celebrities. Ward argues that celebrities are not godlike because they are divine, but rather because they are so fully and overwhelmingly human. We see ourselves reflected back at us when we look at celebrities, because they make mistakes, and are broken, and struggle with all of the same things that we do. We are so fascinated with them precisely because of this – they are us. Celebrities are only celebrities because we put our interest in them, and they only remain in this godlike state as long as we stay interested – if we lose our fascination, they plummet back down to our level.

Chapter five discusses the different themes found in being a celebrity – the constant judgment and analysis from one’s audience that comes from being famous, the concept of having a “home” (a place to be happy, to wallow in one’s wealth, to be flawless; even if actually one is completely miserable, with many problems and flaws), reality TV, having the perfect family, etc. Family is an important idea to celebrity. We, as an audience, want our icons to have perfect, loving, whole families, with a couple (not even necessarily heterosexual) who are faithful to each other, committed to raising children and being good parents, and generally being stable, healthy, and happy. This seems to be the ultimate expression of fame and fortune – passing it down to children (be they biological or adopted).

3. At least three links or images that illustrate the ideas of the article:

1. In chapter four, Ward talks about American Idol and the way the audience is invited to both worship the contestants while also watching and enjoying their creation. There are many TV shows similar to this nowadays, including the originally-British TV show The X Factor. In this clip from the 2010 season of the UK X Factor, one of the judges tells the young contestant who just sang his soul out on national television, “You’ve got it. I don’t know what it is, but you’ve got it.”  ‘It,’ in this case, refers both to the mystical “x” factor and to image – the young man has the right look, the right appeal, to become famous and well-known.

2. Ward discusses Marilyn Monroe a lot, emphasizing how her image is so well-known and iconic that it persists to this day, on t-shirts, mugs, posters, etc. She was such a recognizable image while she was alive that she became insanely famous, and even after her death she remains an instantly-recognized figure. Reading this, I immediately thought of a new TV show that I was addicted to over the summer – Smash, a show about a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe’s life. The show is more about the stories of the actors, writers, producers, and dancers in the show, but it also has quite a few meaningful parts about Marilyn. This song is the finale of the musical (in the show), after Marilyn’s death. Instead of ending with her death, it ends with this song, sung by Marilyn, about how she doesn’t want to be forgotten. Indeed, there is no greater celebrity than Marilyn – she is remembered well after her death and celebrated as an iconic figure in film and American culture.

3. In chapter five, Ward mentions the theme of resurrection for celebrities – after they make a mistake, or have a fall from fame and the love of the media, they can have resurrections. Sometimes all it takes is a trip to rehab to fix a star’s image and put them back on magazine covers. Ward states that there is an ‘unforgivable sin’ – the harming of others. However, I would contest this claim – Chris Brown, an acclaimed R&B singer, has not been affected in any significantly negative way after accusations of beating his then-girlfriend, pop singer Rihanna, in 2009. In fact, as this article reveals, peoples’ efforts to have his transgressions recognized and punished have only catapulted his star higher and brought his album sales up – after an activist organization put stickers saying ‘Attention: This man beats women’ on his newest album, Brown’s record sales skyrocketed. Evidently, this is one ‘unforgivable sin’ that is easily forgivable. 

4. At least two discussion questions that will help your reader develop the ideas of the article:

1. Ward emphasizes over and over again that stars are really just us – normal, human people. Do you think we as a society do well at remembering that, or do we treat/view them differently? Why or why not?

2. In the “religion” of celebrity, the body is sacred; it’s the thing we worship and praise about a celebrity. Is this true for Christianity (maybe not our bodies, but Jesus’)? Is a celebrity’s desire to have a good body wrong? (Perhaps yes, because they’re doing it for the sex appeal, but perhaps no because they’re healthy and setting a good example for society?)