Celebrity Awards, Fan Communities and the Reconstruction of "High" and "Low" Cultures

Societies tend to honour their prominent citizens for unique contributions to the community by means of awarding various prestigious prizes. The prize-giving ceremony has much symbolic value since it is an attempt to cope with cultural relativism and preserve functionalism and social structuralism. Israeli society honours its prominent sons and daughters by means of awarding the Israel Prize to citizens who excel in their field and make ground-breaking contributions to society. The prize-giving ceremony is held each year at the culmination of the Independence Day festivities in Jerusalem. At the exact same moment, an alternative ceremony takes place every year on the "Gossip and Entertainment" internet site, which honours Israeli celebrities by bestowing the "Israel Celeb Awards" to denizens of the swamp who show outstanding accomplishments in the entertainment world. Whereas in the first instance the prize symbolises respect and gratitude for activities performed in the highest scientific and cultural echelons of the country, the second instance involves a vehicle for making fun of local celebs This chapter will show how what began as an attempt to sarcastically emphasize the gap between "high culture" and "low culture" ended up inspiring a conceptual dialogue between "admirers" and "objectors," replacing a discussion of cultural quality with an internal squabble among fans.