Sarah Standing

Standing Room | 5 September 2009

Sarah Standing ponders life, the universe and everything

issue 05 September 2009

Louis Armstrong singing the Gershwins’ ‘Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off’ only touched the tip of the iceberg. Potato — potahto, tomato — tomahto; for two countries ostensibly sharing the same language, England and America have deeper cultural disparities than merely amusing colloquialisms, and never is this discrepancy more apparent than in the naming of pharmacies. We say chemist, they say drugstore.

In the States, the ‘cult of celebrity’ poses a far greater toxic phenomenon than it does in this country. We tolerate fame while Americans positively revere it. To them it is a religion. And mega-fame, just like worshipping the gods, requires a giant leap of faith and an unassailable devotion by those that choose to bask in its reflected glory. It can mean selling your soul to the devil. Celebrities are elevated to such dizzy heights that they are encouraged to become an alien race that is allowed to dwell in a parallel world.

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