So last column I explored just why someone would want to make a Virtual Star, that star being defined by the following traits:
- The creation of a completely artificial media figure whose image, behavior, story, and personality are made up.
- This entity has no single component traceable as a contribution of an actual human being – no single voice actor, artist, etc. The Virtual Star is an entirely artistic creation that cannot be rendered down to being identified with a single person, unlike an animated character with a popular voice actor or being distinctly modeled on a single human being.
- The entity is treated as real in most media produced around it, but it is acknowledged that the entity is completely virtual.
I then explored why I thought that the creation of a virtual star was a viable venture due to culture and resources:
- There have always been virtual stars or creations like virtual stars, especially for the youth.
- Regular stars have often been fictionalized. People have come to accept some fictionalization of celebrities.
- Reality Television creates stars by mixing real-life and fiction. This further blurs the fiction-fact boundary.
- Games have people used to using technology to produce memorable characters and fans have responded.
- Technology allows for creation of the elements needed to create a Virtual Star easily.
So the question then comes: what is the reason to create a Virtual Star? Frankly I can think of a lot: