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Jordan Alcala

Emily Litle

ENG 121.001

11 March 2019

Celebrity Celetoids

In the article called “The Mass Production of Celebrity: ‘Celetoids, Reality TV and the

‘Demotic Turn’ ”, is about celebrities, celetoids, reality tv, and demotic run that was written by

Graeme Turner. Turner is “…one of the leading figures in cultural and media studies in Australia

and Internationally.” (Queensland1). He is arguing about how much media has mutated in the

construction of cultural identity. Turner really focuses on ‘Celetoids’ and ‘Demotic Turn’ when

giving his arguments about the media/celebrity world. He explains how a lot of people can be

famous one day and be forgotten the next. I agree with turner on what he is arguing. I believe a

lot of people are blind and don’t know what it takes to be a celebrity.

What is the definition of ‘Demotic Turn’? It can be defined as a type of language used by

‘ordinary people’. Graeme Turner argues the fact that media has covered up its content with

‘ordinary people’. Turner talks about demotic run in most of the article. He explains what he

means when he says, ‘Demotic run’ by, “…referring to the increasing visibility of the ‘ordinary

person’ as they turn themselves into media content through celebrity culture, reality TV, DIY

websites, talk radio and the like.” (Turner153). There is a difference between ‘Ordinary vs ‘Elite’

people on TV. Turner explains how you are starting to see more ‘ordinary people’ on tv a lot

more often. The reason being is because you like to see people that look ‘ordinary’ become

famous. This gives the audience comfort toward the medias because it is showing us the average
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person can become famous as well. Demotic run plays a big part because it helps people relate or

catch on to what the media is showing to the viewers.

Celetoids meet the demand of the public. Celetoids are people who are famous for a short

period time and then nothing the next period time. Turner believes the media uses these types of

people to pull off that the, ‘Ordinary Type’ person can be famous also. The media shows this by

making reality tv, talk shows, and commercials etc. Turner knows that media is smart and knows

how to show us what you want to see. He defines celetoids by, “… media attention one day, and

are forgotten the next.” (Turner156). He argues that we need to ask questions about the media.

Reason why he thinks that is because as mentioned in the article, “… we do so give its wholesale

intervention into the formations of cultural identity, particularly towards the young…”

(Turner161). They say the media isn’t the same as it was back in the day. It has changed a lot and

not in a good way. “… the media was thought to operate as a medium or a carrier rather than

itself a motivating ideological force; its activities were the product of the interests of other

locations of power…” (Turner159). Now the media shows you what you want to see. The media

changed and evolves with our culture. The evolving allows you to be interested on what they

show you. Not everything stays the same and some people don’t evolve with the generation but,

the media does.

With everything Graeme Turner is saying about the media, I agree with all of it. I do

believe there is a lot that we do not know about the media. The media is really good at covering

up their dirt. There are things I personally would like to know as far as, what does the average

person have to do to become famous? I do know that the media can cover up a lot of things and

can be bias on certain topics also. They like to show us what we want to see and not what we

need to know. The viewers always see these random people blow up on social media and have
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their fame for a certain amount of time. They blow up and then blow down the next short amount

of time. It’s crazy how a lot of us can be blind to the media at times but it happens. We can’t

really control on what we like. I do believe that there are a lot of celetoids and believe they are

good to have. It gives hope to people who wish to become famous one day. But, programs

“mask” of becoming a celebrity because not everyone can do it. The media has ensured that

‘reality TV’ is performed by ‘ordinary people’. A lot of people know that reality TV is just made

up and getting masked like if we don’t know that it isn’t real. People don’t just sign up to be on a

realty tv. People must try out or audition to get on a show or act. The media try’s everything they

can to try and relate to the public. The social media world, there are a lot of celetoids. People

always hear about a person and then forget about them within a couple days. An example of a

celebrity that fits the celetoid criteria is a rapper named “Lil Pump”. When he first blew up in the

music industry (2017-2018), he came up hot. His style was perfect with the generation but, now

that the generation is getting a little older his music is somewhat going on a downhill. He will

eventually wash out because he’s not evolving with the rap game and the style. He influenced a

lot of high school kids that I went to school with, to make money. All Lil Pumps music talks

about is money, girls, and drugs. He will eventually go downhill soon and get washed out.

Coming into conclusion with all of this, I do agree with Graeme Turner on the media.

Turner argues the fact that media has covered up its content with ‘ordinary people’ instead of the

‘elite people’. Turner gave facts in his argument on what the media does to get us to watch what

we want to watch. There are many people who fit into the celetoid category. They get famous

one day and then people forget about them the next day; or in other words “15 minutes of fame”.

The media also shows us ‘Demotic run’ witch a type of style the ordinary person talks. The

media does this to help the viewers catch on and relate with the content they are giving us. This
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world is crazy, and we can be controlled by the media and other networking programs. We don’t

like to know the truth of things and we try to brush the negative things out the way. This allows

the media and celetoids to shine by showing us viewers on what we want to see and not what we

need to know. You can’t believe everything you see in the media world. Turner couldn’t have

argued and explained in a better way. What do you think about ‘Demotic run’ and ‘Celetoids’?
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Work Cited Page

Turner, G. (2006). The mass production of celebrity: ‘Celetoids’, reality TV and the ‘demotic

turn.’ International Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(2), 153–165.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877906064028

Queensland, The University of. “Emeritus Professor Graeme Turner, FAHA.” Institute for

Advanced Studies in the Humanities, iash.uq.edu.au/profile/271/emeritus-professor-graeme-

turner-faha.