The Tea Phenomenon: Heroes and the Cult of Celebrity
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| Queen Elizabeth Garden Party: sipping tea |
Heroes and the Cult of Celebrity
play a fascinating role in the tea phenomenon. For years, society has heard
stories of the tea parties at Buckingham palace. Tea has been known as a royal
drink for ages in the British culture. We see pictures of Queen Elizabeth and
Prince Charles sipping tea and we chose to adapt those same royal habits (Wikepedia, 2012).
The Cult of Celebrity has been
fascinated with the Royal family. The excitement that once surrounded Princess
Diana ultimately contributed to her death. This is a great example of how our
society’s fascination with the celebrity status has gone beyond the norm.
Our society looks to the Royal
Family as role models. For centuries, the royal family has sacrificed family members
for their country. This leadership and sacrifice are heroic. This heroism and
the wealth create the celebrity status associated with the royal family. We identify with the royal family
for leadership. We emulate the basic choices that the Royal Family adapts. Tea,
for example, is one of those choices. These choices are believed to be the finest
choices in society.
We hear the health impacts of tea
from celebrity trainers, and we make choices based on those celebrity’s
opinions. Our view of celebrity’s as heroes is society influences our choices. What
happens when we incorrectly accept a celebrity as a hero and make bad choices?
The insight I have gained while
reviewing the Hero and Cult of Celebrity, is that society needs to identify
with the realism of the choices they make on a personal level. Our civilization
depends on our children in the generations to come. Society needs to be aware
of the habits that our children are learning, and identify from who and where
these habits are being formed. It is important for future generations to
understand the difference between a choice that is made based on realistic
expectations, and one that is made to conform to sociocultural pressures.
References
Wikepedia. (2012, May 9). History of Tea. Retrieved
July 8, 2012, from wikipedia.com: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tea
I agree that we as a culture base our values much too strongly on those of what we believe to be adopted by the celebrity population. I doubt, however, if this will ever change as there will always be the cult of celebrity within our society. Interesting post :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Brits really do look to the royals as leaders today, or just a symbol of a prized tradition. As much as she was revered I never felt they saw Diana as a role model, but the media is certainly making a case for families to do so with the newest addition, the former Kate Middleton.
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