Today I want to explore the sub-class celebrities called socialites. Similar to reality TV stars, socialites are celebrities who really haven't contributed to the world of entertainment or even worked their way up the world-of-entertainment ladder; they just have a lot of money. If Kathy Griffin is a D-List celebrity, then socialites are probably a little farther down the list, say J or K-List celebrities...well most of them anyway.
Personally I don't consider most socialites to be celebrities. I suppose they're celebrities in their own right, but we'll get to that later.
I have to clarify when I say most socialites aren't celebrities. Many socialites have become celebrities, take for example Paris Hilton. When we first started hearing about Ms. Hilton in the entertainment world she hadn't actually done anything to warrant the attention, except for the fact that she has a lot of money.
It seems the upper-classes of Southern California and New York can become famous simply for running with the right crowd. This is how Nicole Richie, Kim Kardashian, and Kimberly Stewart all got their starts. At some point in time they were friends with the right celebrities, and their names then became associated with celebrity status. The simple act of having their names in the press has "launched" their careers, or at least gotten them off the ground. Now, these ladies could be considered celebrities, with multiple different reality TV shows, clothing lines, perfumes, and high-profile relationships credited to their names.
However, there is a different class of socialite that hasn't quite made it to the really big time, but they can be considered local celebrities. I would say this is most common in New York, but I'm sure every big city has their own class of local celebrity.
As you all know, I'm a reality TV junkie, and the Real Housewives series have not eluded the list of shows I watch. I want to specifically focus on the Real Housewives of New York.
The women featured on this series could now be considered celebrities (if you want to stretch it that far), but they all originally began as socialites of New York City. New York really is on a whole different playing field than most large cities. The tabloids of the Big Apple follow the lives of these socialite women like they just won an Oscar for Best Picture.
New York has a series of gossip magazines and newspapers dedicated just to the lives of socialites, the red carpet events they attend, and the inner workings of their daily lives.
This is something I just cannot wrap my brain around. I don't understand following and obsessing over a whole class of people simply because they have millions of dollars.
I understand that may sound contradictory to my fascination with celebrities, but the majority of celebrities that keep us tuned in have actually warranted that mesmerization. In a way, they work for the adoration they recieve. Movie stars whose movies flop and don't recieve a lot of attention aren't nearly as popular as the celebrities that are constantly making Oscar-worthy movies. Money just lets you buy more expensive things; I don't necessarily think it is worthy of my time and adoration.
While I don't understand their idol status, I can see why people pay attention to the lives of socialites. Socialites are a seemingly attainable celebrity. In most cases, if you are following the life of a socialite it's because they live where you live. They have to walk the same streets you do, so there is a level of relatability that exists there. Being so close to that world allows socialite stalkers to dream that one day that could be them. They could be the ones whose lives people follow.
I don't understand it, but it seems there is something fascinating to being and following a socialite.
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