It’s perfectly acceptable to be a fan of a celebrity, but modern society has largely normalized forming unhealthy obsessions with famous people. Social media has made it extremely easy to keep tabs on celebrities and interact with them, as well as share our own opinions and criticisms of them.
In addition to being easier to track celebrities and everything they do, you can also actually be rewarded for it. Everyone wants a piece of the lives of rich and famous people, and so invading their privacy or reporting on their personal matters is often seen as a positive public service rather than harassment.
The Thrill of a Scandal
When a celebrity gets into some kind of trouble, the media tends to go into a frenzy. People often love hearing about celebrity misfortune, whether the news makes them feel happy, upset, or simply curious.
A big attraction in the media that sparks people’s attention is celebrity arrests and drug scandals. Headlines like “Charlie Sheen Drug Test Results” or “Martha Stewart Jail Time” sensationalize these issues that seriously impact people’s lives. People will read these stories in tabloids and often make assumptions, criticize or belittle the celebrity in question. Perhaps some people simply enjoy seeing the rich and famous face serious consequences as anyone else would, but the majority of people probably find these instances so engaging because it’s simply intriguing to see celebrities in these situations when they’re usually held on pedestals.
Courtrooms can also be grounds for obsessive celebrity attention. If a celebrity is involved in a lawsuit for any reason it usually becomes fairly big news and is widely reported by many different outlets. The trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, for example, garnered a tremendous amount of attention and became some people’s main source of entertainment for a while. Despite this trial involving subjects like defamation, trauma, and abuse, the internet made light of the entire thing, poking fun at Heard’s legal team and creating memes about it.
Celebrities are often targets of cancel culture, or the widespread shunning of a person or group as a result of the public claiming something they’ve done or said to be irredeemable. Now, cancel culture is not inherently bad or evil. It can actually be beneficial to society if executed responsibly. The “Me Too” movement, for example, exposed many men in power who had abused people and led to more awareness as well as some of these men losing some of their power. However, people sometimes take it too far, digging up something someone said years ago as evidence to destroy their career or taking things out of context and ignoring public apologies and personal growth.
Public Romance
Obsessions with celebrities often extend to their personal lives and relationships. Those in the public eye are under constant evaluation and romance is the most popular subject among many celebrity followers.
Any time two single celebrities of different genders are seen together, there will inevitably be speculations that the two of them are romantically involved. Often times female celebrities are asked more about their relationship status or other male celebrities they work with rather than their own career and achievements. Breakups are also heavily followed and sensationalized by the media and the public. Although going through a breakup or divorce can be incredibly difficult and emotional, many people treat it as entertainment and gossip.
Some people take it even further and may form a fictional relationship with their favorite celebrity. Whether romantic or platonic in nature, these parasocial relationships can be detrimental. Of course, simple fantasies that don’t interfere with one’s daily life are usually harmless, but it isn’t always so innocuous. There are some people who cross the line into obsession and become fixated on being in a relationship with a certain celebrity. Some even take it as far as harassing or threatening the celebrity’s actual significant other out of jealousy and anger.
Zero Privacy
Celebrities are constantly in the public eye and often have little to no privacy in their lives. This lack of personal space can seriously disrupt people’s lives and cause them great emotional and mental distress.
The paparazzi are notorious for sometimes completely disregarding the space or privacy of famous people. Wherever a celebrity goes or whatever they do, people will usually be there trying to get photos, videos, or a statement from them. This has led some celebrities to become paranoid when traveling anywhere and some are even reluctant to leave their homes at all. Some paparazzi are especially aggressive, showing up at celebrity’s homes or near their children’s schools just to get a photo.
Women often have it the worst when it comes to negative and critical media coverage. Tabloids and gossip websites will often report on a female celebrity’s weight, clothes, or just overall appearance. These women are constantly put under a microscope and criticized for every little detail about themselves. This sexism in the media is not only detrimental to celebrities but to all women and society as a whole.
Celebrities are often forced to live very public lives and can often be unable to have any privacy or peace. Remember that celebrities are just people like anyone else and deserve respect and dignity. Enjoy their work from afar and let them live their lives.