Fame: The Psychology of Stardom

We've all heard that there's a think line between genius and insanity, and this book beautifully explores that thin line, and what pushes some over it to the dark side. It's fascinating to explore the drive behind the seemingly desperate urge in some to have recognition, almost at any cost. Achieving that fame has quite an impact on the family of the famous -- sometimes with disastrous consequences. If the price of fame is high, the cost of losing that fame is amazing as well, in a world that values success above all else. Why are those at the top sometimes living lives in the depths of despair? Why do we have such a great passion to know about their lives -- people we've never met and have nothing in common with? Fame by Andy Evans and Glenn D. Wilson is a tremendously entertaining read, and I highly recommend it!

BOOK REVIEWAndrew Evans and Glenn D. Wilson. Fame: The Psychology of Stardom. London: Vision (1999). Paperback: pp. x+178. ISBN 1-901250-24-5. £9.99.Stardom is a fascinating psychological phenomenon, providing a window through which we witness basic emotional processes; as such, it is a topic worthy of serious scientific attention. Although history is punctuated with the famous, the 20th century saw the full-scale manufacture of stars and celebrities; and the fantasy world of the movie idol and soap character is now interwoven into the fabric of popular culture and today represents an important element of our social environment. Popular culture - often disparaged as lacking in theoretical substance - is central to psychology: its contents may be transient, but the underlying realities that it reflects are not. As Evans and Wilson point out, in the Selfish Gene (1976), Richard Dawkins states: "The evolution of the capacity to simulate seems to have culminated in subjective consciousness. Why this should have happened is, to me, the most profound mystery facing modern biology. Perhaps consciousness arises when the brain's simulation of the world becomes so complete that it must include a model of itself". One technological expression of this fundamental biological drive is the creation of the artificial psychological realms that the cinema and television brings to us daily; earlier, Shakespeare served a similar function, providing us with characters and events through which we could vicariously model perennial psychological dilemmas. Evans and Wilson's highly readable book tackles this difficult topic in a way that is sure to inform and delight in equal measure. The book covers a number of themes. Chapter 1 (Whence Fame) discusses the historical development of fame, from the Kings of the Old Testament to the soap stars of today; and chapter 2 (Fame and the Media), the nature of the communication of fame via music, photographs, product names (e.g., Mercedes, the daughter of Benz) and awards (e.g., Nobel/Pulitzer), as well as the manipulation of the media by celebrities. Chapter 3 (Stars and their Audiences) covers the commercial creation of audiences by the building of theatres and cinemas and the creation of stars. Evans and Wilson survey the psychological ties to stars that involve emotional affinity (usually same sex; e.g., for a man having the confidence and raw energy of Brando; for a women the feminine allure of Munroe); self-identification (to be in the star's role); imitation (role modelling), and projection (the assignment of unconscious emotions to others who act out our desires on the screen). Chapter 4 (Factors in Fame) traces the sources of fame (i.e., born, made, serendipity/notoriety), including the factors that promote fame in the aspirant, e.g., name changes (Frances Gumm became Judy Garland; Archie Leach, Cary Grant; Marion Morrison, John Wayne), motivation and high psychoticism (tough mind