15 Minutes

Warhol famously said that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Some people obviously get a little more than others, but Warhol was talking about a minimum, not a maximum.

I've mentioned my 15 minutes before -- I appeared on French national television in a special about the bicentennial of the French Revolution. I've also been quoted a couple of times in newspaper articles, but overall, I figure I've used up only about 5 minutes of my minimum 15. That is, unless you count the fact that I "own" the Google search results for the my name through this weblog you're reading -- in which case you could say I've attained stardom, at least as far as Andrew Huffs go. I am the most famous Andrew Huff in the world...in the eyes of a search engine.

But really, does anyone need to fulfill their 15 minutes these days? Won't it be taken care of? And in the future, as direct marketing becomes more savvy, will we be able to tell the difference between true fame and the faux-fame manufactured just for us by talking billboards and targeted advertisements that all know our name? At a certain point, any hint of real fame will be felt only by those who are in the celebrity spotlight -- and of course their fame is already manufactured by the media/entertainment companies that back them. How else can one explain the popularity of some of these idjits?

Posted by Andrew Huff at October 21, 2003 03:33 PM