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Daniel Harris, Celebrity Bodies

Daniel Harris, Celebrity Bodies

Read Celebrity Bodies and check your comprehension by answering the following questions. Then “submit” your work.

1. According to the author, what is most dangerous about the influence of popular culture on our health?

our acceptance of dangerous standards of drinking and drug-taking

the psychological dissociation of mind from body

our decision to live vicariously through rather than imitate celebrities

the epidemic of eating disorders inspired by celebrity bodies

2. Celebrities are rapidly filling all of the following roles except

priests.

medical advisers.

politicians.

philanthropists.

3. Harris points out that beautiful people in real life, unlike on television,

are usually very shy.

always have more physical flaws than are obvious on television.

are scattered throughout the population.

are just like everybody else.

4. In what sense are celebrities an “absent presence” in our lives?

We keep them close by obsessively fantasizing about them.

We live vicariously through their images and biographies.

They seem always to be with us even when they are not.

They are physically absent, but we are still very familiar with their bodies.

5. In the case of Hollywood celebrities,

art is long and life is short.

fans keep success alive for generations.

careers are often short and lives are too long.

success guarantees immortality.