People and People Magazine

Celebrities are worshiped as demigods because they appear to have achieved something that was fairly commonplace in many previous iterations of human society: unalienated labor. Work defined by autonomy, mechanisms of communal decision-making, independence, chance, interface with nature, individual creativity, group creativity, sharing, and the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of one's labor were/are hallmarks of many indigenous, non-empire societies on all continents of the world. Looking at celebrities, we imagine them working in contexts in which democracy and autonomy are not checked at the workplace door (or app or Zoom room). We see them as people not reduced to days defined by toil and taking orders, as people engaged in creative expression in their jobs and not living under a Sword of Damocles threatening: medical bankruptcy, eviction, food and housing insecurity. There they are, frolicking on the Mount Olympus of the late night talk show circuit and posting on social media images of their existence favored by destiny, of their days which seem to be based in work-play, adventure, chance and expression of the self. We are in late capitalism. This thing is phasing down. If we survive its demise, perhaps we can form (or remember) a way of living together that offers a life of independence, cooperation and imagination to more than a minuscule few.