Fame moved from costly status signal to media-bestowed aura to discounted ordinariness

Evidence

This shift reflected yet another major change in the nature of fame, which was historically a costly signal of status, earned through extraordinary feats. Mass media broadcasting could bestow an automatic aura on anyone in the spotlight. Reality TV confused the situation even more. Survivor cast normal people as contestants, yet its popularity turned middle-aged corporate management consultant Richard Hatch into a national celebrity. But within the media ecosystem, the reality stars’ lack of glamour and mystique knocked them to the D-list. Viewers subconsciously discounted their status. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 547

Categorization

• DEFINE: This traces how the very definition of fame shifted across three media eras; useful for Marx’s historical period structure.
• XREF: The ‘fame as costly signal’ idea parallels Thorstein Veblen’s costly signaling and the status dynamics Marx engages throughout. — connects to: Traditional celebrity rests on achievement or position but fame itself has other sources — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 64; Ordinary fame rests on unfiltered emotion, not representativeness. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 68; Pop stardom now rewards reflexive ironic disavowal rather than sincerity — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1200