Paris Hilton: Famous for Being Famous

I’m sure almost everyone knows who Paris Hilton is, but does anyone really know what exactly she is famous for? Brad Pitt is famous for his acting. U2 is famous for their music. Gisele Bundchen is famous for her modeling. Paris Hilton can consider herself an heiress, model, singer, author, fashion designer and actress. However, are any of these things responsible for her fame? She was known, not well known, but known for her status as an heiress. However, the attention really caught in 2003, with her controversial appearance in a sex tape. Her fame grew from there, but just in the context of being a media personality. She modeled, but no one really knew her as Paris Hilton, the model. She made appearances in more than one film, but let’s just say, it definitely wasn’t her acting that made her famous. That’s for sure.
Paris Hilton is the perfect example of what Gamson refers to when he speaks of manufactured fame. In Gamson’s story of two stories, he talks about one type of fame that relies on talent and skill. This is when the celebrity is actually famous for achieving something or actually doing something worth receiving the fame. The other type of fame is manufactured. The person gains celebrity status due to a manufactured image that sells to the public, regardless of whether or not he or she has any talent. The real reason Paris Hilton is famous is because the public made her famous. The public is fascinated with the image, manufactured or not. Paris Hilton has been in movies, has her own perfume line, has her own book, and even has a music album out. None of these things contributed to her fame, but in turn, her fame did contribute to some of these things. She has no singing talent, and her acting leaves something to be desired, and in no way were any of these things hits. However, people did know about them, because she was already a celebrity beforehand. We continue to see more and more examples of manufactured fame with the constant rise of reality tv shows. Paris Hilton does have one talent though. She’s very talented in keeping the media attention and using it to garner her fame.