Celebrity Life

Celebrities lives are much different than an average person's life. One of the main reasons for this is that celebrities must maintain an image that holds them to a standard that the average person doesn't know. Take Taylor Swift going to the gym for example. When a normal person goes to the gym, they most likely leave with the same clothes on, and only sometimes do they shower. When Taylor Swift goes to the gym, she probably rents out the whole gym, and then showers, has her makeup done, and changes into new clothes following her workout. Being a celebrity who is constantly dealing with media and paparazzi attention, Swift can't afford to leave the gym looking sweaty and, in a way, normal. Celebrities can't really afford to look normal because fans don't think of them that way. Celebrities deal with much more social pressure than the average person.

Social Currency in Pop Culture

The first popular icon in pop culture is special because he has come to popularity using all three types of social currency. His name is Steph Curry. One obvious social currency that he could be classified as representing is how remarkable he is. He's doing things that the NBA has never seen before. He made over 400 3-pointers this season. The previous NBA record before this season was 286- set by him last season. Another obvious one is that he has gained fame through a game, which is basketball. I would also argue that he makes you feel like an insider. When you watch his games, you make sure that you won't miss anything extraordinary, because he is very capable of doing that on a nightly basis. When you pay attention to him, you get insider access to his family, including his daughter Riley, who has become very popular.
Being a fan of the Walking Dead, I think that it covers the categories of remarkable and insider. It is a truly remarkable show, which has seen an incredible amount of both plot and character development. Whether it be their realization that the real enemy is the living and not the dead, or the way the group has gone from trying to be the good guys to becoming cold blooded killers, this show has changed a lot from the first season. It has the feeling of being an insider as a fan, because I can talk to anyone from my friends to my coworkers, and even occasionally strangers about an episode the night before.
Sometimes in pop culture, it's possible for something to not be remarkable in any way, yet it still can become popular. A perfect example of this is the show Keeping Up With the Kardashians. They came to fame through a porn video made by Kim, something which takes no talent. The one social currency that they do cover however, is that they can make people feel like insiders. Many women, and occasionally men keep up with their day to day lives and find entertainment in talking about it. That insider feeling might just be what's kept the Kardashians popular for all these years.

Tattoo Culture

Americans tend to take different views of tattoos depending on the type of person the tattoo covers. When the tattoo is on a celebrity or a person of note, people consider the tattoo and in many cases, desirable. 70% of NBA players have tattoos. 55% of NFL players have tattoos. Countless celebrities have tattoos. Only roughly 15% of Americans as a whole have tattoos. This reflects the viewpoint that society has of tattoos on the average Joe. Many businesses frown upon having tattoos and many people still have a problem with tattoos. It is much more complicated for an average person to get a tattoo than it is when a celebrity does.

Cultivation Theory

Cultivation Theory is basically the idea that humans begin to believe social norms in society on television and the actions of people on television reflect that of reality. Many times television and reality do not go hand in hand. The best example that the John Oliver video on torture showed of Cultivation Theory is that humans tend to believe terror can be necessary and effective when many times this is not true. In the video, they state that 57% of Americans believe torture can prevent terror attacks. Real examples suggest that may not be true. Out of all of the terrorists that were tortured in Guantanamo Bay following the 9/11 attacks, only two gave any information up, one being pointless information, and the other being a complete lie. Many times in television shows and in video games, torture can be an effective tool in acquiring information. This has lead people to believe that torture works in real life. Though people believe it may work, this very well may not be true.