Proximity to Fame & Fame by Proxy (Part 1)

In the premiere episode of All Each Other Has, sisters Ellie and Carrie delve into what it was like being raised by their famous mother Katie Couric during her time at the Today Show (when everyone loved Mom) and at the CBS Evening News (when everyone hated Mom). Citing C. Kurzman et al.'s 2007 article "Celebrity Status," they explore the four kinds of privilege afforded celebrities: interactional, normative, economic, and legal. Carrie and Ellie reflect on whether their desire to be "perfect," particularly in high school, stemmed from a need to prove they were more than their mother's daughters, and how others' recognition of Mom's fame can unmoor their senses of self. Some important concepts cited are Marcuse's performance principle, Berger's "Ways of Seeing," Skeggs & Wood's "spectacular selfhood," and Andrejevic's "the work of being watched."