Heroes and Celebrities

Written Analysis-Analysis 3

Through a review of the salient literature on the popular culture concepts of heroes and the cult of the celebrity, I must conclude that Bob Marley was not just a celebrity, he was a hero.

Celebrity

A celebrity is an individual who gains his or her notoriety based on their talent and in many cases their good looks, and is easily recognized in society.  Based on the aforementioned definition of a celebrity, Marley was more than qualify.  Blessed with good looks and a charismatic idiosyncratic, women followed him wherever goes.  As a talented singer, musician and songwriter, he first gained popularity scripting hits “I Shot The Sheriff” for Eric Clapton, and “Stir It Up” recorded by Johnny Nash.  With his band, the Wailers, he toured the world (Europe, Africa, Japan, Cleveland to name a few places) and achieved global superstar.   His stardom morph into a cult of the celebrity (the prevalent oddity into arbitrarily famous people or celebrities) 32 years after his untimely death.  I was at the Koln Reggae Fest (2007), his presence was everywhere; he was correct when he sang “dem a go tired fi sey face”.  That is a “Never” to this fan.

Hero

             

The term hero refers to a person whether dead or alive, existent or nonexistent who demonstrates features which society values, and who consequently is a role model for others to emulate (Luna & Forquer Gupta, 2001).  It is through his political, religion, and “champion of the poor” activities that Mr. Marley became a hero.  His anthemic song “Get Up, Stand” and Redemption Song (Marcus Garvey’s words) inspires million to rise beyond their circumstances to claim what is rightfully theirs.  Marley displayed courage in Jamaica when he presided over the 1978 Peace Concert after a self-imposed.  The concert occurred to quell warring political events that tearing the country apart by gun battles.  Bob himself left the Island after an assassination attempt on his motivated by politics. 

Applying the theories of heroes and cult of celebrity to Bob Marley proved that a celebrity can become a hero.  Heroes and celebrities play an important role in society because for many they possessed the qualities that we want to emulate.  To most people in the world Bob Marley was a celebrity and the most popular reggae artist to date, to others, especially in his homeland of Jamaica, he is more than a celebrity, he is a hero.