‘Why Germans never bought into the celebrity culture’
Some say Germany lacks a celebrity culture of the kind that exists in the United States – an egalitarian world-view and a dose of intellectual snobbery means that the cult of fame has never taken off here in the same way. All to the good, you might think, if you’ve been dismayed by the trials of the ‘famous for being famous’ Hiltons, Lohans and Richies of this world. But the founding editor of German Vanity Fair, Ulf Poschardt, tells the New York Times that a dose of celebrity is just what Germany needs:
I think we need to create our own independent sense of glamour, not self-consciously, but because we should stop this superegalitarianism and be more open to difference. I don’t mean we should have pomp, but the state here has the power to make everyone the same. It’s a democratic ideal, but it was also a fascist idea.
Poschardt is quoted in an article by Michael Kimmelman profiling a show of papparazzi pics at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin. Kimmelman makes the point that Newton, whose photos of models pretending to be celebs being photographed by paps are featured in the exhibition, had a less angsty attitude to celebrity than most Germans, “but then, he spent most of his life in places like Los Angeles and Monaco, not Germany.”
July 24th, 2008 at 1:15 am
What a useless subject matter!wtf ☻
July 24th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I think pervasive celebrity culture has been a scourge on the U.S. I can’t stand it. It is ruining this country. Ulf Poschardt sounds like a very naive individual. I think it would be good for Vanity Fair and bad for Germany. There is nothing glamorous about it. These are trashy people in the spotlight who distort the values of young people.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Who cares what Ulf Poschardt thinks. He is a third-rate, spineless, shallow hack who was fired for incompetence by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (for publishing fake interviews), then fired for incompetence by Vanity Fair for his interview with certified loon Horst Mahler. He is now reduced to doing automobile reviews for a sh*tty Swiss magazine. If we all stop paying attention to him, maybe he will go away.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:45 am
No celebrity culture in Germany? Who are you trying to fool! Many German TV programs are for the most part centered around German celebrities. One is bombarded with this crap every day, and you have to pay for it if you like it or not.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I love how unglamorous Berlin is. As a female, in general I can walk around looking however I like without feeling judged or watched. It’s refreshing to speak with men without feeling like I’m being checked out like a piece of meat. In fact, I think this lack of superficiality is just what I love most about Berlin. It allows me to function on a daily level as a human being and not as an objectified female. I feel empowered here.
I loved stepping foot in Berlin upon returning from Italy. It’s so wonderful to be able to engage on a human and intellectual level instead of constantly batting off stupid men or feeling pressure to meet up to a certain image standard. Getting off that plane and looking at all the low-key black-clad booted and stockinged women and men, I didn’t feel any pressure to be anything in particular other than me.
I get this wonderful feeling sometimes when I see model pictures of human beings inside stores here that wouldn’t make it past the drawing board in the US.
Call me crazy, but I even love the staring Germans in the subways and on the streets simply because they aren’t staring for sexual reasons. I love that. They’re just staring because they’re bored, or curious, or thinking, maybe evaluating me or maybe some other stupid thing, but at least I don’t get the feeling they’re objectifying me and judging me either on the basis of my glamour and beauty or lack thereof, or trying to manipulate me into feeling anything.
I’m allergic to people who want to make me be like everyone else by accepting their poisonous glamour standards. I’m glad I don’t watch TV. I think beauty standards are fascist, propagate the very worst of the status quo, and do a disservice to people, especially women.
From my feminist point of view, I reject celebrity standards because I function not based on a societal standard but because I am me and I express myself. I just am, the people around me just are, and that’s enough for me, and I want that to be enough for me. We think, we do, we coexist, we are. I don’t need others’ approval. I also don’t want to fall into the nasty glamour lie when someone seeks my ranking of them on a scale I don’t want to use.
I feel passionately about this. Thank God for unglamorous Germany.
August 19th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I love the fact that Germany is NOT like north america. Thats why I live here and who the f… cares about celebrities except manipulated teenagers with no life of their own.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Could it be because German “celebrities” are crap???
None of them have any star appeal and what could they have done to become famous? -Star in in a German soap?? not exactly awe inspiring…
August 28th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Honestly, I’d rather be in a society that respects you for your intellect rather than one that pushes you to be modeled a certain way. The fact that we put so much weight on star power here in America is ridiculous to the point that it become borderline idol worship. I for one respect the German culture for the fact they delve deeper and appreciate a person’s mind and personality. I hope that culture doesn’t change much there in Germany and it maintains it’s individuality; however, due to globalization, I fear that it’s only a matter of time that this world will become homogenized and loose all the different flavors it still has.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Agreed, Ulf Poschardt wants to sell more magazines than to bring any benefit to Germany. A motivation that is as superficial as the “culture” he wants to peddle.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
i dont know what you are all talking about. if there was no celebrity culture in germany, there would be no gossip magazine whatsoever but there is. maybe it is not quite as hyped as it is in the US but is that a bad thing? looking at the poor individuals such as La Lohan, i feel sorry for her. i am german ( have lived in the US for quite some time ) and i always has crushes on celebs, in germany and in the us. does that mean i’ll buy every stinking paper with new s about them? no (except maybe if it got Kate Walsh in it ;-) she is hot) but i really there is a healthier way of being interested in celebs in germany.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Germans are hardworking,practical people who follow rules and pay their taxes.Until the artificial and superficial culture of America which revolves around money came in,people had no time for frivolities.A honest working person had little left for extravagatence after paying his taxes.Celebrity culture is based on individual personalities and schemes are designed to fool gullible young people to emulate ‘what appears to be’,while in reality celebrities are normal people like ourselves with a little talent and a publicity team to manage and magnify their so-called achievements to the public in a spectacular manner designed to make money.On the dark side,celebrities are insecure people some of whom believe in their blown out-of-proportion personalities and destroy themselves with alcohol,sex and drugs.
In all older cultures,Entertainers are not accorded a high position in society,for their immoral lives and deceptive proffesions.The easy money earned by selling your talent,goes the easy way-alcohol,sex,drugs and mindless entertainment.In america,this deception works,with celebrities placed on pedestals and even worshipped,all in the name of Business,because Mammon rules.In Germany where people believe in reality and hard work,Entertainers are not given much thought.Listen to their music,appreciate their talent,have a good laugh,but at the end of the day,forget them and plan for the next days duties.
August 30th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I certainly agree with most of the knocks on celebrity culture, but anyone who thinks that America is a harsh, judgmental place that lacks serious discussion has not lived in New York. Maybe among the rich and in the tabloids that stuff is true, but it has nothing to do with life in New York where people are neither generally superficial nor lascivious. I’m glad you love your country – that’s always a good sign, but it’s not necessary to make sweeping and incorrect assumptions about the U.S. based solely on life as portrayed in the media.
August 30th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
There is nothing wrong with equality, also, there’s nothing wrong with ACCEPTING the DIFFERENT. But for sure, Vanity fair or celebrity culture is not the answer :)
Did Fascist think everyone are the same? Hmm, no, I don’t think so. That was communism, and that failed too because things are not ‘black and white’ :)
People want to bring some celebrity culture into the country? Well, it’s unstoppable anyhow, but to go and excuse it is somewhat pathetic ;)
September 10th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Germany does not need American Celebrity nonsense. I live here in the US. I am an American, and I hate the mass marketing pop culture. It is ruining this nation at such a rapid rate that I expect the movie “Idiocracy” to be a full blown reality any day if not already. Everything commercialized. Don’t let the American marketing team invade your country and culture and foul it up with nonsense. As Troy states above not all Americans are into this superficial nonsense, we just seem to be helpless to do anything about it. There is an underlying sense of paralyzation within the country and it’s getting worse as our economy fails apart and the neatly designed facades fall away and there is no real freedom, no real justice, and no real re-course of action against those that have truly greedy selfish intentions.
This country is at a cross roads ladies and gentlemen and only God knows how bad it could get. Please don’t embrace our commercialism if you can avoid it.
September 11th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Hi I am an Indian and I can say how much celebrity hype has destroyed the minds. Yes some celebrities(Bollywood and cricketers) can inspire people but mostly dont. They earn a lot ( God knows how they spend) and rest of the country pays to watch them giggling on the shows. VeRY HONEsT opinion I prefer Germany who keeps a common living standard for all. Keep it up !!!!!
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:27 am
@Troy – Actually, I’m an American who lived in NYC before coming to Germany. Maybe my assessment is exaggerated, but it’s still what I feel in my gut, somehow. It’s not so glossy here, far from air-brushed, and I love that. For me it’s an escape from the raucous pressure cooker of glamour. Somehow there’s more of an emphasis on a sort of society-benefiting straight-up honesty and creative problem-solving instead of the PR machine.
As I think about NYC, I don’t quite know how to explain it, because you might possibly say some of the same things there, but I still feel some sort of qualitative difference and love Germany in a specific way that elicits a strong reaction to this article.
February 22nd, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I wonder what I would ask Mahler if I had the chance to travel back in time and meet him in person.
June 28th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
I think we should leave it as it is. Germany may not have that “celebrity culture” but hey, who cares? At least there are still places in the world who are not bombarded by the chaotic world of celebrities.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
oh yeah, Yahoo Deutschland is trying their best to inundate the Germans withHollywood garbage and it is this that gives American people an allaround bad name in Deutschland.