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Jennifer Arce
English 114 B
Professor Lawson
30 April 2014
Project Text Final Draft
Word Count: 1,429
Societys Obsession with Celebrities: Out of Control
To be the object of someones obsession is terrible (Hedren Tippi). Whether obsessed
for the right or wrong reasons, being obsessed can lead to wrong judgment and actions. In The
Hunger Games trilogy the main character, Katniss Everdeen, is faced with various struggles. At
first, she is faced with the actual games including other characters, such as Peeta Melark, who
actually becomes her ally. Through the suspense of the books, certain situations relate to real life.
In The Hunger Games trilogy, the appearance of the characters, especially the tributes
appearance, plays a big role in how they are viewed by others. The way they appear leads to the
citizens obsession with these tributes, but the tributes also become dehumanized because they
are used as objects in the games. At the end of the day these tributes can die and the citizens can
only care so much, being that they are only merely tributes from the districts. Likewise in our
world today, some of our society has developed its own obsessions with celebrities. Celebrities
have become role models, and people almost expect perfection from them. The Hunger Games
trilogy is a great example of the way our society feels towards celebrities, it shows an insight to
how terrible obsessions with beauty and appearance are.
The games alone show how careless the Capitol is about the lives of the tributes who are
human beings as well. While the games are supposed to be seen as a form of entertainment, there
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are actual human beings killing themselves. Of course, the citizens of the capitols learn to like
these tributes, but that does not stop them from enjoying the way the tributes torture each other.
In The Hunger Games, Katniss reveals that the games are humiliating and torturous, and the
worst part is that the Capitol makes them treat the games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting
every district against the others (Collins 22). Sadly, this shows how the characters become
dehumanized; they are treated as objects instead of real beings. Just like in the Capitol, todays
society seems to have similar views when it comes to celebrity down falls. The famous fall from
grace happens to quite a few celebrities because at the end of the day they are just as human as
everyone else is. Ironically, many fans enjoy seeing celebrities suffer.
From the moment Katniss gets to the capitol, they are already trying to alter her image.
Her prep team has to do a lot of things to make her look presentable. One of the prep team
members, Flavius, states, Excellent! You almost look like a human being now, (Collins 76)
once they are done working on Katniss. This shows how ignorant the citizens of the capitol are.
They are used to the luxurious and beautiful things. Katniss is a tribute from a poor district and
she is not used to the norms of how to look beautiful. In order for Katniss to catch an eye from
the citizens they must make her look unlike her normal self, they have to make her into an
extravagant girl that pleases the Capitols norms of beauty. In todays world, there is a lot of
misconception as to how a person that is idolized should look like. In an article, one person said,
"If you're not this skinny and you don't have blond hair and if you don't look however, whatever
the way it is that the culture is saying at that time, then you don't have as much worth. And it's
just a lie" (Moran). Many times humanity has views that a beautiful person should look a certain
way and this is usually influenced by the typical celebrity image. The images of celebrities seen
in the media lead to society having certain expectations of each individual. This compares to the
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Capitol in The Hunger Games because their idea of beautiful is completely different from those
of the districts.
In todays society, appearance of celebrities and reality TV stars is very important to the
public. The ironic part is that like in The Hunger Games celebrities are not always what they
portray in front of the public or on television. In many cases, they need to put up an act or a
certain image to be liked by the public. In her critical essay, Valerie Estelle Frankel, states on
Toddlers & Tiaras, tiny competitors must present giant, fixed smiles, must blow kisses and flirt.
Backstage, however, many have tantrums at the pressure of their parents expectations, at the
endless practice, at the irritating beauty treatments (Frankel 52). It is absurd how at such a
young age even children are put under so much pressure in order to please the critics better
known as the audience. Humans have such high expectations of famous people; this is
comparable to the tributes in the games. The citizens of the capitol expect to see amazing tributes
that will fascinate them enough to get a vote. Katniss herself faces frustration from having to
portray an image that wins the audience over. In the first Hunger games interviews Katniss
struggles with the image she has to portray in front of the audience. She has to hide her feelings
of hatred towards the Capitol, even if she has to lie. Haymitch, her mentor, becomes frustrated
from trying to prepare Katniss and he states, I give up, sweetheart. Just answer the questions
and try not to let the audience see how openly you hate them (Collins 143). Katniss is different
from Peeta, who is also from District 12. Peeta is easily able to portray a likeable tribute in front
of cameras meanwhile Katniss is not. The Capitol desires to see joyful tributes telling them how
happy they are to be there, but happiness cannot always be shown, even if it is for the audience
and the cameras.
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When a celebrity is seen as influential, society expects them to fulfill their role model
status without mistakes. They are just as human as anyone else is in the world, but societys
obsessions leads to them being seen as non-human. When a flaw is presented, it tends to cause
chaos. In a journal article, the authors quote, Celebrities are individuals who are symbolic icons,
popular in the culture, and transfer their symbolic meaning to the products they endorse in
advertising (Who is the Celebrity in Advertising?). Commonly celebrities are the ones used
advertising things because they attract more consumers. Yet there is also a risk in using
celebrities to endorse products. Bruce Clark, a professor sees how celebrity endorsements can be
positive or negative. He states, The problem is that celebrities are human, and humans make
mistakes. The danger of taking on a celebrity is you cant control that person. Its a high-risk,
high-reward situation (Pros and Cons of Celebrity Endorsements). Famous people do not have
super powers and they are full of flaws like any other human being. Society looks up to these
people because they have a powerful image, but in reality they are no different. Of course,
celebrities live more luxurious lives, are beautiful, and they play certain roles in society, but at
the end of the day they make mistakes as well. In the interviews before the first Hunger Games
Katniss and Peeta are supposed to amaze the audience and although it comes easy to Peeta it
does not to Katniss. In Mockingjay Katniss is one of the best tools for the rebels propaganda
because they know that the rebels in the districts look up to her. Katniss is the role model, but
she knows herself that she cannot always live up to the expectations of how she has to portray
herself.
In the actions people take regarding who they look up to and why they look up to those
individuals, says a lot about humans. The world is not perfect nor will it ever be a Utopian world.
Just like in The Hunger Games trilogy, a dystopian world, perfection is quite impossible
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anywhere. So why is it that there is such obsession and expectation from celebrities? It is
because of the same reasons, people live in an imperfect world and through these people they see
the images of what a beautiful luxurious world can be like. Or on the other hand, they see these
non-human figures that are supposed to please their expectations even if it means killing
themselves. Whether in The Hunger Games trilogy or in real life, the way these characters or
celebrities are seen by society really says a lot about what humanity is becoming.

















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Annotated Bibliography
Choi, SEJUNG M., and Nora J. Rifon. "Who Is the Celebrity in Advertising? Understanding
Dimensions of Celebrity Images." Wiley Online Libary. N.p., 7 Mar. 2007. Web. 10 Apr.
2014.
This article is about the impact that Celebrities have on society. Celebrities are seen as role
models by society. People become obsessed with celebrity figures and they look up to what they
do. They tend to want to be like celebrities and the images they present. This is a reason why
celebrities are used to endorse products and other things. This information can help to back up
the way Katniss is viewed. Her symbol becomes popular and people even wear it as a fashion
accessory. In addition, she is used for propaganda because they know that people see her as a
role model because of her actions. This journal article shows how celebrities have an impact on
society, which is similar to the impact some of the tributes like Katniss and Peeta have on the
audience.
Clark, Bruce. "Pros and Cons of Celebrity Endorsements." News. Northeastern University
D'Amore-McKim School of Business, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
In this question and answer, the professor Bruce Clark answers questions about Celebrity
endorsement. He summarizes why celebrity endorsement is good and how it can sometimes go
bad. Companies use celebrities to endorse products, but there is also the risk of the reputation of
their image. He states how celebrities are human after all and they can make mistakes as well. I
found this article on a University website. This makes my source credible because it is coming
from a professor. This source will help me because I can use it when informing my reader about
how celebrity endorsements can either have a positive or negative effect.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.
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Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.
Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.
Moran, Terry. "Celebrity Culture and Worshipping False Idols." ABC News. ABC News
Network, 5 Oct. 2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
This article is about the wrong in idolizing celebrities or other higher authority. A pastor
speaks about the negative side of idolizing these people. He explains that there is usually
dissatisfaction when people worship the wrong being. He believes that when a celebrity or
anyone else is worshipped they are replacing God who should actually be the one worshipped. It
as well has opinions of a few church members on how they feel about idolization. Although this
article is about faith as well as idolizing, it has a lot of good information that can relate to the
image that is expected in todays society. I found this article in the ABC news website; this is a
source of daily news for many places, which makes it likely to be credible. The quotes from the
church members will be useful in my essay because they talk about what societys view of
beautiful is.
Of Bread, Blood, and the Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy.
Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2012.
The critical essay that I used was Reflection in a Plastic Mirror by Valerie Estrelle Frankel. This
essay is about how The Hunger Games relates to the way society is obsessed with reality
television and appearance. It is about the way celebrities or in the book Katniss have to portray
something, they are not to please the audience. This critical essay is on the CSUN library website
and it makes it a credible source. This essay will be useful because it relates a lot to my topic and
the author points out many factors as to why society is so obsessed with these things and the way
that celebrities themselves feel and the way they have to appear to the audience.
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Vassiliadis, Alexander. "'The Hunger Games': A Commentary on Society." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
This article is about the way that The Hunger Games seems to portray certain themes that relate
to society in our world today. The obsession with beauty and outward appearance is a theme that
relates to our society. In addition, reality TV is another factor; the games are similar to what is
seen on reality TV. In the games, the tributes are killed and it is normal. These two themes
presented in the article are perfect examples of how The Hunger Games relates to real life
situations. In our society, people become so obsessed with celebrities that they aspire to be like
them and the appearance they portray. In addition, the way people are killed in The Hunger
Games is similar to the way society views celebrities almost as non-human and easily become
entertained by the things they do or in other cases turn against celebrities for their immoral
actions.