Some time ago, I saw a concerto of Pete Townshend, the guitarist of the Who, where he said "Entretainment will be the religion of the future". Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and I noticed that some

ROCK ARTISTS
MOVIE and TV ARTISTS
SPORTS ARTISTS
(and others, but mostly these)

have lots of $$, have the most bizarre wishes granted (remember when Oprah went to buy some shoes and requested that the shop closed except for her so she could buy shoes in peace? and it did!!!), and are regarded by many people as models of success, and hence, to be imitated!

Aren’t this people becoming the new Aristocracy? In England, some of them have already got the Sir title!

And is that good or bad?

Tell me what you think.

Paulo Pinheiro

Sometimes I think that Hollywood has replaced Vatican. Instead of the Bible people now look for “inspiration” in movies and TV. For hundreds of years the role of the church in every village was to control the public opinion. These days the privilege belongs to the TV.

And as for Oprah, well, she might own 2,000 pairs of shoes. But I own maybe eight pairs and hundreds of shoeless kids in Africa die of hunger every day.

And Jesus said: “Let he who is without sin cast blah, blah, blah,...”

As you note, many years ago they were the landowners—the “landed gentry” or aristocracy. (Many of whom were granted land basically by being bodyguards or assassins for the king). Nowadays, in a culture suffused with media, it’s basically a sort of machine: the people love scrutinizing the famous, the famous need adulation to remain famous, and the media makes money by serving both ends. Landed gentry isn’t so famous anymore (moreso in Europe than in the US anyhow, think of the Royals), but they have been displaced by more flashy sorts like rock stars, TV personalities, models, actors, athletes, and basically anyone talented enough to get their 15 minutes of fame on YouTube ...

Yes, fame sells. It’s partly the old “dominance hierarchy” again, and I’m afraid that this is one aspect of human culture that is never going to disappear. Only, who is considered a member of the hierarchy changes depending on the culture.

It certainly deserves scrutiny. A lot.