Unravelling Celebrity - Part Three

Ah, you thought I would be done with the celebrity chat but no, I have more to say. In a word, charisma.

When I was in my early twenties by father told me flat out that I didn’t have any. Harsh. To be fair to Dad the conversation went something like this, that while I was beautiful and Cher was not, she had charisma and I did not.

So yesterday when I talked about luck that is only a part of the equation. Superstardom or even plain old stardom has that extra thing called charisma. Trudeau had charisma. Princess Diana had charisma in spades. Marilyn Monroe had it. I’m not talking about sex appeal. I’m talking about that charm that seems to ooze out of pores. It’s a certain radiance. I remember watching a biography of Marilyn Monroe and you could see this wonderful spirit in her eyes. Towards the end of the documentary it struck me that it was gone, her eyes looked flat and dead. It was terribly sad because I had the distinct impression that she was already dead inside. The real Marilyn Monroe was no longer there.

Princess Diana is without a doubt the most celebrated personality of the 20^th century. From the time of her engagement until well after her death her face was on countless magazines on a weekly basis. You couldn’t go to any cash register without seeing her face staring back at you. Now, Diana was not a classical beauty, but she had that charisma that just brought people to her.

So here’s the question, are you born with charisma or is that something you can acquire? Before Diana Spencer came into the public eye did people stop in the street and look back at her? I suspect not. But once she started dressing her “part” she was a head turning figure. Did people stare at Marilyn on the beach when she was Norma Jean? Probably, since she was a gorgeous looking girl even with naturally light brown hair. Did people look at the teenage Elvis? Probably. Cher, probably not.

Does the media create celebrities? Think Paris Hilton or Zsa Zsa Gabor.

In the end, I think that we, the people, create celebrities by buying into the media hype. We buy the rag mags, we watch Entertainment Tonight, we talk about Michael Jackson. But the ones who stay successfully on top for years on end have that elusive charm we regular folk succumb to.

Charisma.

This little charmer was selling gum, do you think I bought some?