Diana and the Cult of Celebrity Forum: Overview

mark the 10th anniversary of the tragic death of “Lady Di,” princess of Wales, the Britannica Blog hosted (Aug. 20–31) a forum to discuss both Diana’s legacy and the concept of celebrity itself. How did Diana change the British monarchy? What constitutes a “celebrity,” and why are we fascinated by such people and their every move? And is our obsession with celebrities — from Hollywood starlets and sexy sports stars to charismatic politicians and even some serial killers — a mark of cultural decline, or is this merely a reflection of a social, psychological need?

A diverse array of prominent writers, scholars, and experts tackled these questions from a variety of points of view. They included:

Catherine Whitney (writer and biographer, author of The Women of Windsor) “Diana and the Royal ‘Me’ Generation”

Maureen Orth (longtime correspondent for Vanity Fair, author of The Importance of Being Famous) “Diana, Versace, and the Celebrity Epidemic”

Graeme Turner (professor of Cultural Studies, University of Queensland, Australia, author of Understanding Celebrity) “Diana and the Celebrity Culture We Enjoy”

Frank Deford (NPR radio commentator and contributor to Sports Illustrated; author of The Entitled) “Diana, Beckham, and the Cult of Celebrity”

Denny McLain (former Major League Baseball star, author of I Told You I Wasn’t Perfect) “Celebrity: A Little Bad, A Lot of Good”

Theodore Dalrymple (British essayist and author of Our Culture, What’s Left of It: The Mandarins & the Masses) “The Dianafication of Modern Life”

Darrell West (professor of Political Science, Brown University, author of Celebrity Politics) “Celebrity Politics, Political Celebrities”

Ilan Stavans (professor of Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College and author of Love and Language) “The Cult of Leadership and Nationalism Run Amuck”

Roger Kimball (co-editor of The New Criterion, co-editor of Counterpoints: 25 Years of The New Criterion on Culture and the Arts) “The Age of Celebrity: What’s 15 Minutes Really Worth?”

Victoria Lautman, Chicago print and broadcast journalist, interviews Tina Brown, author of The Diana Chronicles

David Schmid (professor of English, University of Buffalo, author of Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture) “Natural-Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture, Part 1”

David Schmid (professor of English, University of Buffalo, author of Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture) “Natural-Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture, Part 2“

The final contributor, of course, remains you: your comments, opinions, and replies to these varied posts. Reader comments continue to be welcome. So please read and reply to as many of these posts as you’d like.