Heroes vs. Celebrities in Contemporary China: thinking about sports stars
“The hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his image or trademark. The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media. The hero is a big man; the celebrity is a big name” (Boorstin, 1978)
Heroes are a national issue with a thick context for the Chinese. It has to do with the special history of China. Politics, history and society impact Chinese young people in a much stronger way than in the West. Sports, too possess a much more complex meaning than in the Western world. Sport supports a way of restoring Chinese national identity and international recognition; that is why athletes become peacetime heroes in China.
For more than 50 years, the Chinese hero was a figure whose status was ratified by self-sacrificing patriotism. Chairman Mao Ze-Dong and other leaders of his generation were considered heroes by ordinary Chinese people. They earned themselves the status of heroes by what they did in building the nation.
However, there is another type of traditional Chinese hero: government-subsidized heroes. These heroes are constructed by the Party media, promoted with slogans such as “Everyone learns from Lei Feng.” Lei Feng, a soldier was promoted as a hero and role model for Chinese citizens since the 1950s.
In The Aeneid, Virgil created Aeneas as the archetype for Romans to use as a role model. Aeneas possessed qualities that were admirable in the eyes of the Roman government (primarily to serve society). Government-subsidized heroes like Lei Feng function in a similar way. They become political symbols, which are frequently mentioned by the Party newspaper, and many quotes are attributed to them. They are chosen to speak to the public as heroes by the party. Sport stars, too, are promoted as heroes in a similar way. Most of these sports heroes end up by working in the government, acquiring a position in a sport regulating body. They are reported in party media rather than popular media. In a sense, they are traditional war heroes manufactured by the party instead of celebrities. They are not the persons people want to approach, to talk about, identify with or even gossip about.
However, with the changing media function and the raise of popular culture, the star culture have led to the decline of the hero in the traditional sense; the extent to which sport stars today are perceived to be heroes is problematic. The term ‘hero’ has been used in several different ways. Synonyms are frequently used, such as celebrity, conqueror, exemplar, man of the hour, star, idol, just to name a few. Boorstin (1961) and Campbell (1988) distinguish between the hero and the celebrity. Campbell (1988) states that heroes act to redeem socity, while celebrities live only for themselves. Boorstin argues, “the hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his image or trademark. The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media. The hero is a big man; the celebrity is a big name” (Boorstin, 1978).
However, in contrast to such conservative distinction between ‘hero’ and ‘celebrity, the distinction is not so neat in the case of Chinese sports stars such as Yao Ming and Liu Xiang. Sport stars become heroes because of long-term, consistently outstanding performance as well as their morality, social responsibility, and intellectual capability. Sport stars are real in the sense that they perform live under unpredictable sporting conditions over which media have little control. Although the stories and programs their fans read or watch are determined and amplified by the camera lens, the shooting angles, replays, gossips, photographs, and talk shows, sport stars are much more authentic and more easily acquire heroic status than stars in any other field.
Heroes are a national issue with a thick context for the Chinese. It has to do with the special history of China. Politics, history and society impact Chinese young people in a much stronger way than in the West. Sports, too possess a much more complex meaning than in the Western world. Sport supports a way of restoring Chinese national identity and international recognition; that is why athletes become peacetime heroes in China.
For more than 50 years, the Chinese hero was a figure whose status was ratified by self-sacrificing patriotism. Chairman Mao Ze-Dong and other leaders of his generation were considered heroes by ordinary Chinese people. They earned themselves the status of heroes by what they did in building the nation.
However, there is another type of traditional Chinese hero: government-subsidized heroes. These heroes are constructed by the Party media, promoted with slogans such as “Everyone learns from Lei Feng.” Lei Feng, a soldier was promoted as a hero and role model for Chinese citizens since the 1950s.
In The Aeneid, Virgil created Aeneas as the archetype for Romans to use as a role model. Aeneas possessed qualities that were admirable in the eyes of the Roman government (primarily to serve society). Government-subsidized heroes like Lei Feng function in a similar way. They become political symbols, which are frequently mentioned by the Party newspaper, and many quotes are attributed to them. They are chosen to speak to the public as heroes by the party. Sport stars, too, are promoted as heroes in a similar way. Most of these sports heroes end up by working in the government, acquiring a position in a sport regulating body. They are reported in party media rather than popular media. In a sense, they are traditional war heroes manufactured by the party instead of celebrities. They are not the persons people want to approach, to talk about, identify with or even gossip about.
However, with the changing media function and the raise of popular culture, the star culture have led to the decline of the hero in the traditional sense; the extent to which sport stars today are perceived to be heroes is problematic. The term ‘hero’ has been used in several different ways. Synonyms are frequently used, such as celebrity, conqueror, exemplar, man of the hour, star, idol, just to name a few. Boorstin (1961) and Campbell (1988) distinguish between the hero and the celebrity. Campbell (1988) states that heroes act to redeem socity, while celebrities live only for themselves. Boorstin argues, “the hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his image or trademark. The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media. The hero is a big man; the celebrity is a big name” (Boorstin, 1978).
However, in contrast to such conservative distinction between ‘hero’ and ‘celebrity, the distinction is not so neat in the case of Chinese sports stars such as Yao Ming and Liu Xiang. Sport stars become heroes because of long-term, consistently outstanding performance as well as their morality, social responsibility, and intellectual capability. Sport stars are real in the sense that they perform live under unpredictable sporting conditions over which media have little control. Although the stories and programs their fans read or watch are determined and amplified by the camera lens, the shooting angles, replays, gossips, photographs, and talk shows, sport stars are much more authentic and more easily acquire heroic status than stars in any other field.
posted by Beaver at 8:55 PM
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