Star for a Day

Star for a Day

As Struan Vaz and Paige Hill emerged from a theatre in Austin, Texas, they were surrounded by photographers and reporters, who began snapping photos and asking them personal questions. Flashes popped as the couple were chased all the way to a nightclub, where they were met by a crowd of adoring fans who had been waiting for hours to catch sight of them. Passers-by, impressed by all the action, took photos with their camera phones, while others asked the two who they were. “We’re nobody,” said Vaz.

He was telling the truth, they weren’t celebrities at all and the adoring fans were, in fact, Vaz’s friends. As a surprise for his fiancée, Vaz had hired a company called Celeb 4 A Day, which provides personal paparazzi to follow people around town. Hill was so overwhelmed by all the attention that she tried to run away at first, though she soon began to enjoy it. When they got to the club, the owners, fooled by the uproar, gave them VIP entry, letting them walk right past the queue and straight in.

With this new kind of service, anyone can feel what it’s like to be a star. A typical price list: $300 buys you the basic package of our personal paparazzi who will pursue you for up to 30 minutes. For $2,500, you get the deluxe treatment - two hours with six paparazzi, including limousine service and your very own bodyguard. Are people actually willing to spend that much for some time in the spotlight? Absolutely! Since these services started, their phones have been ringing non-stop.

Some social scientists despair at this new trend, calling it celebrity culture gone wild. “Unfortunately, fame and film stars have become more important than the environment or the economy. And reality shows make everyone think that they can be an instant star,” says Ronda Rivling, pop culture analyst. According to Professor Josh Gamson, who studies society and mass media, “We live in a culture where... if you don’t have people asking who you are, you’re nobody.”

The paparazzi companies, on the other hand, wonder what’s wrong with a little fun. “People are really excited when they call,” says Lindsay Chapin of Private Paparazzi in San Diego, California. “It’s this whole fantasy they’re playing out in their mind, and they want to experience it for one night.”

Is this new phenomenon a worrying reflection of society’s infatuation with fame, or just a harmless escape from the worries and pressures of life? It all depends on your point of view. Whatever your opinion, if you see a crew of cameramen following a celebrity down the street, don’t be surprised if you have no idea who the big star is.

(Source: Viewpoints for Bachillerato, Student’s Book, Burlington Books)