The Oxford English Dictionary defines a celebrity as a "celebrated person", "highly praised or talked about [OED, 2014]". Wikipedia defines a celebrity as "a person who attracts a significant degree of public attention [accessed 9 May 2014]". However, these definitions are far from complete, as we usually do not call Adolf Hitler a celebrity even though he continues to do so. this day is much discussed and attracts public attention from the grave; the same could be said of Osama bin Laden or Joseph Kony. One answer, of course, is that, although these are commonly spoken of, they are not, as the Oxford English Dictionary says, “exalted” or “celebrated.” However, are people who are exalted or celebrated actually considered celebrities, and are the people we call celebrities actually exalted and praised? Albert Einstein or the Dalai Lama are celebrated and praised, but it is not clear whether they can be classified as celebrities. One thing is clear, however; Celebrities are an ingrained part of our cultural discourse and our daily lives. Celebrity chefs are printed on condiment labels, famous actors and singers are constantly seen in everyday life, and even famous doctors tell us how to live through daytime television. Who are these celebrities? Why (and how) do people become celebrities and what function do they serve in society (if any)? An exploration of such an integral part of our culture will likely reveal much about ourselves as cultural participants. Creating a celebrity image is a bit of a causal dilemma; trying to distinguish whether celebrities create their own image and decide what they are famous for, or whether ordinary people prescribe a celebrity's image, is probably a futile effort. Celebrity culture can be seen as a democratized process h...... middle of paper ......, 1995], and the new generation of media celebrities began to resemble simulacra in their own right. Already in Plato's time people were dealing with this concept, as Plato refers to statues on top of buildings being intentionally distorted and disproportionate, so as to make them seem more real to people on the ground looking at them. ; yet, if those statues were seen in full scale, they would seem ridiculous and false [Plato, “The Sophist”]. The new celebrities of people like Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford or Greta Garbo had been represented by distorted realities, so that ordinary people could see them in a better light; Whether through conscious or unconscious effort, simple ignorance, or vast lifestyle discrepancies, the public has begun to reduce these people to just their image [Marshall, 1997].