The changing face of celebrity culture

Once your reputation made your name. Now it is often the other way round says TP O’Mahony.

In the future, sociologists seeking to explain the emergence, growth and significance of “ celebrity culture” in our time will almost certainly use the expression “the Kardashian factor” as a convenient shorthand description for what is a socio-cultural phenomenon.

Kim Kardashian, the voluptuous American reality TV star who is back with a new series of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, meets more fittingly than most other celebrities, with the possible exception of Paris Hilton, the definition of celebrity advanced by Australian academic David Rolph — “someone who is famous for being famous”.