Introduction, Desecrating Celebrity. Proceedings of the IV International Celebrity Studies Journal Conference

The complex process of being a celebrity is something that no one can predict. It is the variable, occasionally irregular and totally impulsive, result of a continuous negotiation of values and meanings between the audience, the market and the celebrity. To survive the flowing time and the constant rise of new celebrities, then, a celebrity needs an audience by which to be adored2, which means that the celebrity will be incessantly validated by the audience’s appropriation of the celebrity. In a sort of plug and play process, the celebrity becomes exploitable and definitely usable by the audience in their individual identity-building process, to the point that the emotional investment toward the celebrity’s success as well as their failure embodies the individuals’ attempts to face their own emotions and their rationalisation.