Right, time for the final episode of BBC’s #CelebrityA21stCenturyStory - this one is about the dark side of fame, which was a very strong theme in my book. It really changed my outlook on celebrity, and I presume this documentary will feature some painful stories

We’re starting with Trump’s election, and his masterful manipulation of TV news - this is undoubtedly true, Trump received $5b of free airtime on US media because every utterance from his mouth was infused with celebrity narrative logic. Outrage is a net positive in fame industry

The Access Hollywood scandal ( “grab them by the pussy” )would have killed any other political career, but Trump wasn’t playing the same game. Reality TV is about drama, and the thrill of the constant bursts of new outrage

All totally fair. I agree.

But the doc then claims there was suddenly a new “celebrity takeover” of culture in 2016. This is not a supportable argument; scholars complained of the same in the 1930s, 1800s, 1760s - celebrity encroaching on normal political life is the norm, and has been for 300 years

Indeed, I argue in the book that the earliest celebrity of the 1700s was a political figure - Dr Henry Sacheverel.

The doc contrasts a reality star in the White House with Ed Balls & Anne Widdicombe on Strictly. Anne W says she got stick, Ed didn’t, ergo it was now ok...

Obviously this is a big extrapolation from Anne W; it’s entirely plausible the contrasting response was simply specific to her public persona versus that of Ed Balls, and their own personal brands

Of course, Portillo had already been doing silly light ent stuff for years

The doc then points out Galloway, Dorries, and Corbyn all did big reality TV shows - perfectly valid argument. But politicians had been bona fide celebs for three centuries, whether it was Richard Cobden, Mirabeau, Washington, Ben Franklin, Sacheverel, etc

Interesting moment where Rachel johnson talks about being the sibling and daughter of celebrities, watching their lives on TV -

Florence Nightingale’s sister Parthenope was Flo’s biggest supporter and pushed her sister towards fame, but Flo hated it

The 18th century superstar actress Sarah Siddons had famous siblings, but her sister Ann was the black sheep who was desperate to be famous. In the end, Sarah paid her to stay away from her because she was an embarrassment

Georgia Toffolo points out she got 9 million votes on I’m A Celeb, the same as Tony Blair

Toff used her fame to promote the Tory party to a younger audience. In 1709, Henry Sacheverel did something similar and helped win the election for the Tories

The doc now moves to discussing Weinstein & #MeToo . With celebrity voices behind it, the hashtag was used 6.5m times in 3 months - actresses and activists attended The Golden Globed wearing black together

Celebs command column inches, so the movement was amplified

This is obviously a hugely important point. It wasn’t the first time celebrity was a powerful campaigning influence - Charles Dickens used his fame to draw attention to the Poor Law, violent schools, and public executions

The doc is really trying to argue this is new, pointing to Kim Kardashian’s efforts to exonerate people from death row, but Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, George Clooney etc all were doing big charity & justice campaigns years ago. It’s normal

Again, let me say, I’m enjoying #CelebrityA21stCenturyStory - it’s got some really interesting interviews. But celebrity is a 300 year old phenomenon, so this thread is just my attempt to contextualise earlier precedents to the examples in the doc series

The doc now moves onto Love Island and the way the show allowed viewers to immediately buy the outfits & bikinis the contestants were wearing

This isn’t new either. Hollywood deliberately embraced this in the 1930-60s, with actresses acting as fashion role models to female fans

Big stars like Rita Hayworth gave regular advice on how to get the look, and how to “glamour for attention” (worth remembering ‘glamour’ originally meant ‘a spell’ or ‘enchantment’)

Magazines & catalogues let fans buy or sew their own versions of big screen fashions

If you’d like to know more about this, I recommend Carol Dyhouse’s work - her book Glamour is very readable http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/790 

“Social media continues the show” after it finishes. The doc no takes a sad turn, discussing the suicides of three contestants of ITV entertainment shows

A former Love Island contestant says “Once the show is done, people still feel they have the right to comment on your life”

This is one of things I find so troubling about celebrity culture; many people are catapulted to fame so fast, it’s psychologically destabilising to suddenly be under public scrutiny. And social media means they can never escape scrutiny, even at home

The pressure of social media is undoubtedly new. And it’s relentless. The Caroline Flack story is another tragic tale - she was written about 387 times in U.K. press. The doc makes the valid point that the public demand drives this frenzied coverage

Sadly, celebs have often been hounded and harassed by extreme fans and the media. Major movie stars of the 1920s and 30s were victims of it, and several were miserable in their mansions

In the book I talk about Brenda Frazier whose celebrity career was largely done to her

The doc says celebs that were once tabloid fodder victims are now sidestepping the media machine, and broadcasting to their own fans through social media. We get now to Colleen Rooney’s WAGatha Christie, one of the most amazing celeb stories of recent years

Of course, feuds between celebs and public outing of rivalries isn’t new - the great French actress of the 19th century Sarah Bernhardt had a terrible feud with her former best friend, Marie, who wrote a scathing book about her. Bernhardt retaliated by attacking her with a whip!

The doc now says Covid lockdown once again changed how celebs engaged with the public, selling relatable authenticity. But stars like Madonna misjudged it badly. Meanwhile the spotlight shifted to nurses & doctors & Captain Tom

Of course, this is very similar to the 1850s when a major crisis saw the sudden celebrity of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole being created overnight, because the nation needed inspirational heroines

The doc concludes that celebs have more power now, and it’s now more important in our culture. I’m not sure I agree, but it’s a fair argument

You can watch the full series here on @BBCiPlayer

Celebrity: A 21st-Century Story http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000qsjz

And if you’d like to know more about the history of celebrity, with a few laughs chucked in, here’s my book - it’s called Dead Famous, and you can read it in hardback, ebook, or listen to my narration on @audible

Thanks for reading my thread! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Famous-Celebrity-Greg-Jenner/dp/0297869809