“May we live together to never die like this again,” said playwright and lead performer Odile Gakire (Kiki) Katese in ArtsEmerson’s production of “The Book of Life” on Oct. 18.

Before the word "influencer" was a household term, before Instagram and TikTok allowed users to document every moment of their life in real time, Paris Hilton was the woman at the center of it all.