Who is a "celebrity" these days?

Joe Rogan has clout. Jon Stewart rants matter to progs. What about Donald Trump shouting "You're fired!"

This post includes several YouTube videos and I hope readers will watch a few minutes of each of them.

So there. No apologies, since the goal is to raise a complicated question about the state of “celebrity” clout in American mass-media culture.

But first, let me admit that I am not sure what the word “celebrity” means, right now.

The Merriam-Webster definition is pretty basic and, frankly, almost worthless in this discussion. Read this definition and then ask, “Celebrated by who (or even whom)”?

Celebrity noun

1: the state of being celebrated : fame

The actress lived a life of celebrity.

2: a famous or celebrated person

Many celebrities attended the awards ceremony.

I started thinking about this topic after viewing one of the early episodes of the new “Brett Cooper Show,” in which the young conservative influencer (maybe even a “celebrity”) argued that mainstream Americans are getting over their love affair with celebrity culture. Thus, Cooper believes that celebrities are losing some of their clout when it comes to influencing what ordinary Americans think and do.

I wish that there was a long, nuanced, thoughtful article that I could reference reacting to this Cooper video, the third one she has produced since leaving The Daily Wire and going independent. But a basic search — “Brett Cooper,” “celebrities,” “2025” — yields next to nothing, except for other videos reacting to her video.

That’s the world in which Cooper lives, works and has influence. I almost signed up for TikTok just to see if there were any thoughtful reactions on that platform. But see how old I am? I just used “TikTok” and “thoughtful” in the same sentence. Then again, TikTok is a powerful medium for millions.

Let me stress that I am not a “fan” of Cooper. However, I do pay attention to her because she is very young and is doing something radical in this day and age. Yes, she got married and is openly talking about having children, sooner rather than later. Did this change in her priorities influence her Daily Wire departure?

Early on, it appears that Cooper is determined to show down a bit (including the machine-gun verbal style created by video editing) and focus on cultural topics (books even) instead of the very political orientation of her old work. Oh, she’s still talking about politics, but mainly in terms of the “politics is downstream from culture” way of thinking.

I think Cooper’s Big Idea, in this case, is that celebrities are still at the top of the gossip food chain, in terms of mass media, but that they are losing the ability to change the minds of their fans.

To be specific, she thinks that Taylor Swift has overplayed her hand by getting too political.

That may be true, but I think it misses the point: What matters is not whether Swift was able to point young voters toward Kamala Harris. What matters is whether she retains (even as she ages) the ability to shape the minds and hearts of young women on matters of love, emotions, beauty, relationships and sexuality. Oh, and her Christianity is a “good” form of Christianity, for media folks.

In other words, I think Cooper’s commentary is interesting, but it’s warped quite a bit by her focus — whether she admits it or not — on partisan politics. I would insist that celebrities continue to dominate the world of entertainment, which is the quickest way to get into the minds and imaginations of the ordinary Americans (as opposed to something old and elite like journalism).

But let me pause and ask Rational Sheep readers this question: Is there a “celebrity” whose words and deeds really matter to you and, thus, could influence what you think and do in real life?

At this point, let me stress, once again, that I do not know what the word “celebrity” means right now. In part, this is because the structure (in terms of core technology) of the Internet has shattered our culture into splinter groups of various sizes.

For me, this raises a few questions.

* Are we talking about celebrity “influencers” who are basically famous for being famous? In other words, folks like the Kardashians.

* What about celebrities who are actual “stars” in the omnipresent world of arts and entertainment, especially those with careers that sustain over several decades and into more than one generation? In the old days, movie stars were at the top of the celebrity food chain. Is that still true?

* What about celebrities who produce media “content” that enters public discourse? I am, at this moment in time, thinking about people like Joe Rogan.

Right now, Rogan is a man who has the ability to hand people several hours at his microphone and pump information and insights into the minds of his own loyal audience (about 20 million YouTube subscribers) and the kazillions of people (including comics, journalists, etc.) who see the many short videos triggered by each of his interviews. His pre-election chat with Donald Trump has been viewed 55 million times. What’s the audience for a late-night CNN show?

Yes, some of these “content” producers reach specific niche audiences. But it matters when a media celebrity has the ability to force elites in New York City and Hollywood to stop and think about subjects that they may not want to think about.

Here is a classic case in point. I would argue that hard-news coverage of the Wuhan lab leak issue began changing after this viral moment in liberal late-night television.

* Then there are the tech and business czars who shape the technology, information, products and opinions that reach ordinary Americans.

Is Mark “Facebook” Zuckerberg a celebrity? Maybe not, but did decisions at Facebook (think Hunter Biden laptop) help shape the 2020 election? How about Jeff “Amazon” Bezos? Was Steve “Apple” Jobs a celebrity? What in the world is Elon Musk, at this moment in time? Did it matter that he bought Twitter?

* OK, one more. Is Donald Trump, to ordinary voters, a celebrity or a political leader? Did decades of mass media fame give him the name recognition he needed to seek the presidency? Why do many Democrats dream about Oprah Winfrey entering politics?

I will admit that part of me wants to see these kinds of cracks in celebrity culture. I want to think that it doesn’t matter when shallow, shiny people have millions of social-media followers, while way too many people of substance do not.

Are there celebrities who matter to me? Yes, there are artists whose work I really appreciate and it catches my attention when things that they say or do push buttons that matter to me. But could pronouncements by celebrities change my views on, let’s say, the First Amendment? How about the sanctity of human life? I don’t think so.

Let me ask that question again: Is there a “celebrity” whose words and deeds really matter to you and, thus, could influence what you think and do in real life?

What if that “celebrity” was a religious leader linked to your own faith, denomination or tradition? Dare I ask: Is Pope Francis a media celebrity?

#Ducking