Media rituals - Neyl Benkirane

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Media Rituals


An example of Media Rituals (Couldry, 2003) is the known as ‘Celebrity Worship Syndrome’ (CWS), which can be described as “an obsessive-addictive disorder where an individual becomes overly involved and interested (i.e., completely obsessed) with the details of the personal life of a celebrity” (Griffiths, 2013). As ‘celebrity’ we can understand every person who is in the public eye, but research suggest that it is more likely to be from the world of television, film or pop music. A person that suffers from this syndrome becomes a stalker of, for example, that celebrity’s social media (Instagram, Facebook), which could be seen through the lens of the Medial Ritual term by Carey (1989), as a real ritual for that person. This can be compared to the worship of Saints or Gods in the many religions that exist in our present society. But why? Because those people (with CWS) have created rituals centering that celebrity(ies) as their primary source of happiness and faith. 

            For the people that do not suffer from this syndrome, we live out of the myth of the mediated center, since our “window” to see the world is not media, is just society. On the contrary, these people who suffer from CWS, live trapped into this myth, since their life center is shaped through the window of media, and the knowledge they acquire from it. I say this because all the information they get about their celebrity and worship material, comes from the internet and social media, so actually they are not worshiping a person they know, but the information they get through these platforms. 


Griffiths, Mark D. (2013). Celebrity Worship Syndrome. Psychology Today. From: 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-excess/201307/celebrity-worship-syndrome

Couldry, Nick. (2003). Live ‘Reality’ and the Future of Surveillance. Media Rituals: A Critical Approach. pp. 95 – 106. 

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