We already know the common desire to be rich and all that. Under capitalism, you can potentially become a rich business owner who lives off the work of others, rare as it may be. But even though it's still significantly more realistic than what I am going to talk about, it's boring and you would usually just get millions of dollars and live quietly and out of the publuc eye.
But what about the celebrities? If anything, it's even easier to desire to be one. These people often do stuff that are actually interesting: some are business tycoons, sure, but you also see a lot of TV/internet/radio/etc. personalities, actors, artists, musicians, film directors, etc. And many of them gain even more wealth even faster than the example in the first paragraph.
Yet the majority of people who try to follow their path are broke and/or have to work a second job just to survive.
Imagine how many people dream of being able to create amazing works of art such as songs, movies, paintings, etc. and to gain at least some recognition for it, whether it is big or small, but will never (or will barely) get the opportunity. The capitalist class does not find them useful enough to be anything more than a poor wage slave, not a rich one.
It's as if celebrities just exist as pawns of the capitalist class to convince the working class that their dreams can still be achieved under capitalism, when that is simply not a reality.
I don't think celebrities will cease to exist under socialism, and they certainly didn't in past/present socialist societies, but at least it will be far more meritocratic and the overall desire to become a celebrity will go down anyway.
What are your thoughts?
People like gossip. They are also atomized and don't have the social circles to gossip with or about. So we get professional celebrities to fill that niche.