Ordinary fame rests on unfiltered emotion, not representativeness.

Evidence

However, what is an “ordinary” life anyway? Sociologist of popular culture Laura Grindstaff9 contends that “ordinary” does not signpost content as being “average,” “typical,” or “representative of the population in general,” but rather merely conveys that they are not experts or celebrities and are famous for assorted reasons. This includes having first-hand experience of a significant incident or being willing to divulge something attention-worthy from their private lives. Furthermore, as ordinary people are less filtered and orchestrated than traditional celebrities who have been trained in deportment and impression management, it is expected that ordinary people on television are more likely to display intense human emotions in response to specific incidents. This is a moment that Grindstaff10 terms “the money shot.” These highly lifelike displays of emotions range across the spectrum, from happiness and grief to anger and regret, and the audience’s ability to identify with these emotions on-screen contributes to feelings that ordinary celebrities are more real and authentic than traditional celebrities. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 68

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘ordinary’ in celebrity studies and introduces Grindstaff’s ‘money shot’ concept — usable vocabulary for the influencer typology.
• XREF: connects to: Unexpressed emotion and retained dignity move audiences more than drama does — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 443; Bodily proximity forces a sincerity that media stardom structurally cannot achieve. — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 301; Fame moved from costly status signal to media-bestowed aura to discounted ordinariness — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 547

Broader Connections

• Unexpressed emotion and retained dignity move audiences more than drama does #complicates (0.82) — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life, 443
• Fame moved from costly status signal to media-bestowed aura to discounted ordinariness #expands (0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 547
• Bodily proximity forces a sincerity that media stardom structurally cannot achieve. #expands (0.72) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 301