My friend doesn't like Austin Butler. As an actor she really likes him, but as a person she's a little more critical. A few years ago, he and his longtime girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens broke up. Months after their breakup, the two attended the same event and passed each other on the red carpet.My friend estimated that their relationship was something like clearly The production ended on a disappointing note, as Austin waved to Vanessa during the event, but she did not respond. My friend surmised that Butler was clearly breaking the boundaries of post-breakup rules. She told me that after a long breakup, she needed space to separate from intense emotions, and that by shaking her hand, Butler had broken the layer of trust between them.
This argument made little sense to me, but after looking at TikTok I realized that this rhetoric is actually quite common. Look at the accusation. Rachel Zegler hates love Based on her claims, the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” It may have been a little misogynistic. Please refer to. video We analyzed Amber Heard's appearance in court and deduced that she was lying the whole time based purely on her body language. Take a look at Duchess Kate's latest obsession with status. some videos They even claimed that she was replaced by a clone or killed by the royal family. (Turns out she had cancer. Oops!) These videos have millions of likes and have been viewed hundreds of millions of times.
I think it's dangerous to be obsessed with a celebrity's every move. The instinct to pass sweeping moral judgments on the smallest actions of people who are constantly being filmed seems unfair and unhealthy. The constant analysis of a few key figures feels like a shift toward supporting sensationalized stories about members of high society rather than investing in the real people in front of us.
The roots of celebrity obsession are of course not new, said Roberta Garner, professor emeritus of sociology at DePaul University.
“The 'celebrity' thing has been around for about 200 years, and it kind of started after the French Revolution and the American Revolution,” Garner said. “As more and more people became literate in Western Europe and North America, they moved out of the small peasant world. They began to read newspapers. Many early celebrities came from newspaper and traditional media coverage. It was picked up by.
The concept of celebrity grew even larger over the next few centuries, as widespread reporting through newsreels and television news brought information to the illiterate. Social media has made it even stronger.
“It's the same thing, but it's been amplified by the proliferation of the internet,” Garner said. “A long time ago, 30,000 people attended Sarah Bernhardt's funeral. Now it's less visible in the physical space, but millions of people watch the streamer every day.”
The rise of the Internet has given everyone a voice on social media, giving rise to a new form of celebrity culture: fan accounts. Unlike his band's fan clubs of the 1950s and 1960s, fan accounts have become a modern and personal way to recognize and celebrate celebrities in everyday life.
I sent out a request to interview people who had some kind of fan account, and to my surprise, I received a lot of responses. There seemed to be some common trends among those interviewed.
Most of these were middle school projects. A bored teenager becomes obsessed with a particular celebrity because he enjoys music, movies, art, etc.
“I started my account in seventh grade,” said Ryharda Husic, a student at the University of Iowa. “I was into a lot of fandoms at the time, so it felt natural to start my own fandom.”
Most of these accounts were created out of a desire to belong.
“Everyone else had little fan accounts, so I created one,” Husick said. “It was fun to log in one day and find out, 'Oh, Lana Del Rey was spotted outside a restaurant wearing a Budweiser shirt and smoking a cigarette.'” It was ridiculous. But our shared interest in her brought me closer to people. ”
Jessica Dortch, a film student at DePaul University, had the same motivation when she started a fan account for the YouTube variety channel Dan and Phil. “I was in middle school and my family moved frequently during that time, so I felt estranged from many of my classmates,” Dortch said. “At the time, it was so nice to see two friends having so much fun doing whatever they were doing.”
Some previous owners may not feel obligated to return to their accounts.
“I don't have time to run a fan account. I have a lot more to worry about now than I did when I was 13,” said Paula Arevalo, a psychology student at DePaul University.
Husick was even more enthusiastic about the idea. “I would 100 percent reactivate my fan account. I love Lana Del Rey, she was an integral part of my formative years, and her art means so much to me as a person. have.”
It's clear that what draws people to celebrities is their aesthetic story, not just their personality. People who establish themselves in popular culture do so by establishing themes through music, fashion, and art. Getting too caught up in the lives of celebrities can skew our perception of reality.
Rita Horvath, a psychologist and PhD student at the University of Gibraltar, warns that this kind of fan culture can lead to isolation.
“Some people get so wrapped up in the lives of their favorite celebrities that they neglect aspects of their own lives, like work and school,” Horvath says. “This phenomenon is associated with lower levels of mental health.”
As social media permeates young people's lives, teaching people the difference between the world around them and the world inside their phones: one is real and the other is heavily constructed. is essential.
“Proactive action is essential to address concerns about society's relationship with celebrity and promote a balanced engagement with celebrity culture,” Horvath said. “This requires the promotion of media literacy and critical thinking skills to enable individuals to distinguish between reality and constructed narratives.”
