Another thing I realized after my last API01 class on Thursday is that it's easy to get yourself mired in explaining distinctions in English that aren't really as important as you think they are.
In my case, I realized this after one of my students told me he wanted to learn more about New York. I had mentioned in an earlier class that my most recent home in America was in the Big Apple, and so one of my students asked if he could learn more about it. After I said we would talk more about it in another class, he mentioned that he was interested in learning more about New York partly because of a Taiwanese man who now plays baseball for the New York Yankees.
This somehow got me onto the topic of deserved fame versus faux celebrity status. I had to explain to my students that the word "celebrity" could be used for someone who somehow deserves his or her fame (i.e., a talented or "talented" movie star, like Tom Hanks or Brad Pitt) and someone who was "famous for being famous".
The latter concept got a puzzled look from my students. The example that sprung to mind was, of course, a certain blonde celebutante in whom I ordinarily have little to no interest. I nonetheless put Paris Hilton's name on the board, and explained that the Hilton heiress has done absolutely nothing to deserve to be the center of as much media attention as she currently commands. I had to ask if the name was known in Taiwan, because one never knows what things from America make it over to Taiwan and what things don't.
It was truly depressing to find that every single one of my students, who are by no means the kind of people who read trashy tabloids, recognized Paris Hilton. I would like to think that people on the other side of the Pacific would have the sense not to care about Ms. Hilton's antics. But apparently, they are.
Britney Spears was also mentioned in the vein of "famous for being famous." Now, this one I really can't understand. Here is a not-very-talented young lady who sings in a language the majority of Taiwanese people don't readily understand.
Yet somehow my students knew all about her shaved head.
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2 comments:
For my generation, the ultimate "famous for being famous" person is George Hamilton. He was so good looking, but not really very talented, yet Hollywood let him hang around as long as he arrived in a limousine and didn't make himself obnoxious. He did make a few movies, the best of which was the film biography of Hank Williams, which may have been called "The Hank Williams Story," but surely even Hollywood could be more creative than that. Anyway, Hamilton actually gave quite a good performance as Hank Williams. It was sad when Williams died.
Don't blame the Chinese for knowing about Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. You can't get away from those stories on international channels like CNN. Even I, who flips the channel when a story about either one comes on, knows that they're currently hanging out together, which may be the only reason anyone is paying attention to them.
I see what you're saying. And I know that George Hamilton was more famous for his suntan than for anything he did onscreen.
But I think even George Hamilton has a better claim to fame than Paris Hilton. Hamilton at least did something--acted in a few movies--to become famous. Paris Hilton, on the other hand, has done nothing but put a pornographic video of herself out on the internet.
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