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In 1979 historian Christopher Lasch published an important book entitled The Culture of Narcissism. It was one of those seminal books that come along too infrequently. Thirty years later, Lasch’s argument needs to be taken to a whole new level. American culture is absolutely drowning in this narcissistic tendency. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, there is a significant cultural shift occurring within America with “Americans’ willingness to exploit themselves for fame and the hunger for ratings-grabbing events by cable-news shows, talk-show hosts, Web sites and magazines.” Several examples:
- The enormous popularity of reality TV has given people the idea that being a celebrity is possible for everyone!
- Richard Heene of Colorado manufactured an incident where purportedly his son, Falcon, was carried away in the family’s homemade helium balloon. “Balloon Boy” was a ruse to attract publicity.
- In California, Nadya Suleman gave birth to octuplets and has made money on being the "Ocotmom.” She is not married and used fertility technology to intentionally conceive so many children.
- Jon and Kate Gosselin promoted themselves on reality show “Jon and Kate Plus 8.” Their family and marriage are now disintegrating. Was being a celebrity worth this kind of risk? They apparently believed it was.
- Former House Republican leader Tom DeLay is now competing in “Dancing with the Stars.”
- Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has joined the cast of Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”
- Now we have the case of Michaele and Tareq Salahi, Virginian socialites who crashed last Tuesday’s White House state dinner for India’s prime minister. The couple was admitted to the White House grounds and the state reception without an invitation but was not seated for the dinner. They were nonetheless photographed with President Obama, Vice President Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel. The Salahis are under consideration for the cast of cable-network Bravo’s reality-TV show “The Real Housewives of D.C.” Half-Yard Productions filmed the Salahis throughout the day Tuesday for Bravo—including an hour-long hair and makeup session at a Washington salon.
Who are the Salahis? The Washington Post recently reported that documents and court records include dozens of lawsuits alleging non-payment for services, a long-running (and very public) feud with Tareq Salahi’s parents about ownership and control of their now-idle 108-acre winery and “claims the couple made about accomplishments that cannot be verified.” Their extravagant wedding in 2002 at St. Matthew The Apostle in D.C., included 28 bridesmaids and groomsmen, 8 flower girls, a 36-piece band, 186 catering servers, 50 bartenders, 46 chefs and 165 official photographers. Michaele claims that she was a Washington Redskins cheerleader and was a model for Victoria’s Secret. Both have been proven to be a lie.
What do these examples of our narcissistic culture mean? Apparently for some, the search for celebrity, no matter how brief, is worth any risk. Indeed, one critic has argued that “The media business is the new Ellis Island: Give me your talentless, give me your hoaxes and I will put anything on my air.” Columnist Alessandra Stanley argues that “Fame has a spellbinding power in American society, the one thing that can trump wealth, talent, breeding and even elected office. Reality shows and social Web sites like Facebook long ago knocked down the barriers that kept ordinary people trapped in obscurity. And instant renown is nothing if not democratic.” I would also argue that this narcissistic culture is further evidence, if we needed it, of the depravity of human nature. It manifests the decadence of American culture as well. There is apparently no cost too high for some people to pay just for a few moments of celebrity. How shallow and how superficial! Fame and fortune are fleeting—and each one of those listed above has learned that lesson. Psalm 1:4 says of the unrighteous that they “are like chaff that the wind blows away.” Instead, Psalm 1:1-2 argues that “blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but who delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on His law day and night.” They are “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1 does not affirm the narcissistic culture currently all the rage in American culture.
See the Wall Street Journal (28-29 November 2009); Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times (28 November 2009); and Neely Tucker and Amy Argetsinger in the Washington Post (28 November 2009). |
