Marshall suggests that the amplified discursive power conferred by celebrity status gives celebrities “a voice above others, a voice that is channelled into the media systems as being legitimately significant” (2004, p. X). Often, this is seen in the daily parade of celebrity news across the media, the discourse of these stars often having a profound influence over their audiences, who in many cases, have entered into unreciprocated parasocial relationships with their idols. The term “parasocial interaction” was coined to describe the one-sided relationship in which one party knows a great deal about the other, but the relationship is not reciprocal” (Horton and Wohl: 1956). Gitlin refers to this as the “familiar stranger” process (2002: 21), and though these relationships are not real, and the celebrities are physically remote, the sheer volume and regularity of information dispensed serves to create an illusion of closeness; in reality though, it is debateable that the subject of the fan’s affection does not even know or care about the emotional connection at all (Cashmore, 2006, p. 261). Whilst Australia has its own crop of celebrities, the influence of America in Australian society is significant, particularly since much of their entertainment appears in our living rooms each night. Many of these, ‘household names’, have transferred their private belief into the public sphere.
Tom Cruise is known as a hugely successful actor, having starred in numerous blockbuster movies. Clearly, this level of fame has afforded Cruise a platform which has enabled him to publicly embrace and promote his personal belief in Scientology with an element of credibility. His marriage to Nicole Kidman afforded him an honourary Australian status, further positioning him as trustworthy in Australian society. Though his spiritual belief system may be ignored by many of his public, these proclamations regarding his faith are held by others as an authoritative endorsement; it could be argued that some individuals may abandon their own system of checks and balances, and embrace the belief held by Cruise without question. The Beatles are another example, they became involved with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Transcendental Meditation (TM). This association was largely responsible for the organisation’s rise from obscurity to world-wide popularity during the 1970’s (Hunt, 2003, p.197), and seen in Australia during the Beatles tour of the 1960s. Subsequently TM became popularised in Australia. Bob Dylan became a Fundamentalist Christian adding legitimacy to the fledgling alternative Christian church in Australia. Shirley McClaine embraced the new age. Richard Gere and Keanu Reeves took up Tibetan Buddhism. Muhammad Ali, Ice Cube and Everlast are adherents of Islam (Masterson 2004). All of these belief systems, and others have grown in recognition and influence through the exposure afforded them by the media in Australia. Arguably, the celebrity who has had the greatest spiritual influence is Oprah Winfrey, who according to Richard Albanes, has been largely responsible for bringing new age beliefs into the twenty-first century (2009, p. 36). Thus the evidence would suggest that the celebrity, in many cases, acts as a proxy for what would be considered bona fide spiritual authority. It could be argued that the adoption of these beliefs is inevitable for some individuals, who are by nature predisposed to automatic conformity to the suggestions of their celebrity heroes. Robert Cialdini postulates that, “the ever accelerating pace and informational crush of modern life will make this form of unthinking compliance more and more prevalent in the future” (Cialdini, 2007, p. xiv). Essentially, he argues that with so much choice, it is easier to surrender such responsibility to a trusted confidante; in this case, the celebrity who the fan knows and trusts by virtue of their parasocial relationship. So for many, exposure to these belief systems may never have occurred had they not been transferred into the mainstream by their celebrity idols. Through this, we see demonstrated the way in which “the media provide the basis from which we can gain knowledge and understanding of our contemporary environment, yet they are not passive conduits of communication” (eds. Marsden & Savigny 2009, p. 1). It is through the media, by virtue of their celebrity power, that these icons of society have strongly influenced their publics as their values have become normalised, and, in turn, appropriated, assimilated and thus integrated into the wider postmodern world. McComb and Shaw argue that the media do not overtly promote a particular point of view, but rather, issues are often framed in a manner with the intent to influence a calculated response. This is not to say that there is no spirituality in this country. Many of those who have given up on God would say they still believe in something beyond themselves. There are new-agers in abundance. Many environmentalists have a reverence for the earth that is quasi-religious. We flock in our thousands to hear the Dalai Lama and as a non-theistic religion, Tibetan and other forms of Buddhism attract many converts. (Stewart 2012). So on the one hand, we see an increasing interest in spirituality that is outside of the mainstream, whilst the number of adherents to traditional Christianity is in decline.
Commissioned by Olive Tree media, a survey of 1094 people shows that while Australians are generally open to spirituality, they feel they are unlikely to find it in church. About 40 per cent of Australians consider themselves Christian, compared with the 2006 census response of 64 percent and 74 percent in 1991 the survey shows. The biggest problems Australians have with the church is abuse by the clergy (cited by 91 per cent), hypocrisy and judging others (both 88 per cent) religious wars (83 per cent) and issues around money (87 per cent), (Zwartz 2011).
eligion is eminently social: it occurs in a social context, and, more importantly, when men celebrate sacred things, they unwittingly celebrate the power of their society. On the most general plane, religion as a social institution serves to give meaning to man's existential predicaments by tying the individual to that supra-individual sphere of transcendent values which is ultimately rooted in his society. We must discover the rational substitutes for these religious notions that for a long time have served as the vehicle for the most essential moral ideas." Society is the father of us all; therefore, it is to society we owe that profound debt of gratitude heretofore paid to the gods. Religion is eminently social. Religious representations express collective realities. Religious rites are a manner of acting which arises from assembled groups and are destined to excite certain mental states in these groups. Durkheim predicted that religion's influence would decrease as society modernizes. He believed that scientific thinking would likely replace religious thinking, with people giving only minimal attention to rituals and ceremonies. He also considered the concept of “God” to be on the verge of extinction. Instead, he envisioned society as promoting civil religion, in which, for example, civic celebrations, parades, and patriotism take the place of church services. If traditional religion were to continue, however, he believed it would do so only as a means to preserve social cohesion and order.
Marx once declared that religion is the “opium of the people.” He viewed religion as teaching people to accept their current lot in life, no matter how bad, while postponing rewards and happiness to some afterlife. Religion, then, prohibits social change by teaching nonresistance to oppression, diverting people's attention away from worldly injustices, justifying inequalities of power and wealth for the privileged, and emphasizing rewards yet to come.
Although people commonly assume that Marx saw no place for religion, this assumption is not entirely true. Marx held that religion served as a sanctuary from the harshness of everyday life and oppression by the powerful. Still, he predicted that traditional religion would one day pass away.
The media has become responsible for the shaping and influencing of our identities, as the traditional sources of identity, such as family, social roles and the Church, have begun to disappear.
Social change can come from various forces both inside and outside a community, yet globalization is one thing that seems to be able to influence the culture of even the most isolated groups of people, especially through the mediums of television and the Internet.
From a functionalist perspective, religion is a secondary agent of socialisation which sets a moral code or parameters aimed at maintaining order in society. While a persons national identity is constructed by factors such as place of birth and residence, spiritual identity is not constrained by any such boundaries. FRAMED… The enlightenment broke the shackles of religious bondage and allowed individuals to find their own understandings of what comprised spirituality. No longer bound by narratives or templates that define specific notions of what God or a higher power ought to be, the manner in which the thirst for spiritual knowledge can be satiated is not constrained by guilt and fear of hell, it still can be if that is what the individual wants to believe, but for many, the pursuit of spirituality has expanded beyond the religious ideology enshrined in society for generations.
This essay has demonstrated the impact of the media in changing the nature of how spirituality is perceived and performed in Australian society. Clearly though, the forces that have driven that change are not confined to matters of a spiritual nature alone, therefore, I also assert that these same principles could be applied to other aspects of cultural influence throughout Australian society in a post-modern world.
According to Flew (2002), global media involves internationalization of communication flows, transmitted through telecommunications, information and media technologies namely broadband cable, satellite and the internet which provide transnational circulation of cultural commodities, texts, images and artifacts. Flew, T. (2002) and it is via this medium, that societies across the globe have been impacted as a plethora of alternative ideas, which challenged many long held beliefs in societies whilst opening the way to the acceptance of new streams of thought.
New Media: an Introduction
. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Experts once predicted that as the world grew more modern, religion would decline. Precisely the opposite has proven true; religious movements are surging and driving "alternative globalizations" across the world.
Where in times past, notions of God may have been associated with a cultural identity, these notions are now blurred
The significance of the Enlightenment was not so much that it resulted in the complete disappearance of religion, but that religion became a matter of private choice, which then resulted in the withdrawal of religion into the private sphere. In the contemporary world, religion has become a matter of private taste, functioning in much the same way as do art and design. (Boris Groys: Religion in the age of digital representation….http://www.e-flux.com/journal/religion-in-the-age-of-digital-reproduction/ So rather than doing religion as a practice driven by guilt or fear of persecution, religion has become a matter of choice, not unlike choosing a pair of jeans or a new car. In a world driven by consumerism…
Passion of the Christ… speaking to their own narrative… perpetuating notions of punishment and reward.
References
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Cashmore, Ellis, 2006, Celebrity Culture, Routledge, New York.
Cialdin, R, 1984, Influence: The Pyschology of Persuasion, William Morrow, New York.
Cowen, T, 2002, What Price Fame, Harvard University Press, Massachusetts.
Hunt, S, 2003, Alternative Religions, A Sociological Introduction, Ashgate, Burlington.
Edwards, M, 1994, Printing, Propaganda, and Martin Luther, Fortress Press, Minneapolis.
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Marshall, P, 2004, Celebrity and Power, Fame in Contemporary Culture, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Masterson, K, 2004, April 19, Finding their religion; celebrities embrace kabbalah, irritating longtime followers. Chicago Tribune, viewed 20 January 2013, http://ezproxy.utas.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/419876949?accountid=14245
McCombs, M, Shaw, D, 1972, The Agenda Setting Function of the mass Media, Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176-87.
Rojeck, C, 2001, Celebrity, Reaktion Books, London.
Stewart, J, ‘Religions Place in Australia’, The Canberra Times, 5 March 2012, viewed 21 January 2013, <http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/religions-place-in-australia-20120304-1uarw.html#xzz2I27xiwsh>
Zwartz, B, 2011, ‘Spirituality’s fine by us but there’s little faith in religion’, The Age, 22 November 2011, viewed 21 January 2013, <http://www.theage.com.au/national/spiritualitys-fine-by-us-but-theres-little-faith-in-religion-20111121-1nr11htm#ixzz2IYywYgLe>
Turner, G, 2004, Understanding Celebrity, Sage, London.
Winship, J., Straker, G. & Robinson, T. 2011, "A Qualitative Study of Denial in Catholic Clergy Child Sexual Abusers", Sexual Abuse in Australia and New Zealand, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 23-33.
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paulcitizenjournalistnetau (student)
