For some time now, television has routinely displayed celebrities through performances, interviews, game shows, etc. However a more recent development is the medias power to not only display these celebrities but create them as well. Talent contest programs such as American Idol, Americas Got Talent, and dozens more, give the simulation of fame to the public on a regular basis. Whole television formats now depend on exploiting public interest in the opportunity of becoming a celebrity.

            As a result, more and more young people are engrained with the expectation that becoming a celebrity is an achievable and honorable future life path. A recent study in the UK found that 1 in 10 teenagers would abandon their education if they had the chance to appear on television. 16% of the teenagers believed that they would eventually find success through celebrity. Nine per cent believed that becoming famous was a great way to become wealthy without the effort to acquire skills or qualifications and an additional 11% said that they were waiting to be discovered.

            It is this notion of belief in a personal intrinsic star quality, which I attempt to explore through these two works.