by Cherie Camins

Created on: January 23, 2009

Before I go any further, the premise above is false. Celebrities are not losing themselves when they have to reinvent their identities. The reason for this is that being in the media's attention, good or bad, is part of their job of being a celebrity. We rarely see who the real celebrity is, only the image they present to us.

That said, lots of celebrities reinvent their images during their lifetime because they want to remain 'fresh' and in the public's attention for as long as possible. That means there needs to be something new for the public, and therefore the media, to focus on.

Britney Spears is a good example of a celebrity who constantly reinvents herself in order to stay in the media. When she first appeared as an adult singer, her 'wholesome' appearance contrasting with her single '...Baby One More Time' caught people's attention. So did her dating Justin Timberlake and her vow to wait until marriage to lose her virginity. The fall out between her and Justin, and his easy proclaiment that she wasn't a virgin continued to keep her in the media. Nowadays, it seems that you cannot turn anywhere, not the internet or television or a magazine cover without hearing something new or old or just plain bizarre about Britney Spears.

However, we cannot say during any part of her long career that what we saw was the 'real' Britney Spears, no matter what many 'experts' claim to say otherwise. Even her recent breakdowns could have been enhanced or embellished to keep people talking about her until she made another comeback with another hit single.

Madonna is another example of a celebrity who constantly reinvents herself. Pretty much every album she comes out with, she has changed herself to fit the times or to appear completely new and ahead of the trends. While it can be argued about her singing talent, no one can really argue that Madonna knows how to sell herself, which is basically what she is doing. If the public likes what they see, they will tune in to find out more. She would not have lasted this long in her career if it was not for reinvention. The girl she was in the 80s could not have lasted to engage the public if she had remained static.

There are plenty of actors, actresses, and musicians who have fallen to the side of the road because they refused to reinvent themselves or they reinvented themselves in a way that alienated their old fanbase while not bringing in a new fanbase. Molly Ringwald was the IT girl in the 80s for movies. Her movie career did not last very long, because everyone still thought of her as that girl in Pretty In Pink.

Either way, this is nothing more than a job to celebrities, and they are selling themselves. It does not mean that what we see their real selves or that they lose their identities when they reinvent themselves. It just means they are doing their jobs.

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