The public eye indulges in criticizing celebrities constantly. Print media continue to capitalize off of this obsession, plastering their scandals and mistakes all over the front pages of magazines. While the obsession continues, it comes into question as whether celebrities’ lives should truly be used as content to spread to the media, as it distracts from pressing issues around the world.
One such obsession began recently as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce started dating. When their relationship went public, many of Swift’s fans were seen cheering the couple on, criticizing their relationship and also following Swift around to his games.
Paparazzi stalked the couple around, from games, to behind the scenes of her concerts, and on casual outings. Others reposted millions of images of Swift at Kelce’s game in Kansas City against the Broncos on Oct. 12, and people started posting videos asking Kelce to care for her. Swift fans began calling Taylor Swift a “small girl that needs protection” and asked for Kelce to “treat her well”. While the good wishes for the couple are admirable, this obscene focus on their relationship which has seemed to take over social media by storm only seems to grow. The media puts a lot of pressure and focus on celebrity couples, but taken out of the context of fame, plastering so much content about the relationship between two strangers would be off-putting.
It is not the first instance of celebrities being pushed to share more intimate moments, such as when Mariah Carey was pushed to speak about her pregnancy on Ellen. Ellen continued to pressure the singer into confirming the pregnancy, which at the moment was nothing more than a rumor. This announcement by Carey was later to be followed by another widespread announcement that she had lost her child to a miscarriage. Miscarriages affect thousands of women worldwide, and is commonly known to be an extremely rough situation to deal with, but Mariah Carey was forced to not only deal with the situation- but to do so in front of the world.
Whether it’s a new divorce, a new relationship or a new child, celebrities are frequently forced to speak about uncomfortable topics, in effect . This criticism is not taken lightly. Celebrities have committed numerous acts of suicide due to increasing media pressure and feeling stalked. Major celebrities such as British TV star Caroline Flack, and K-pop singer Koo Hara had all been victims of major cyberbullying and gossip, later to be found dead by suicides due to their mistreatment.
As the obsession with celebrities grows, it only leaves more and more room to question why this obsession exists in the first place. Surprisingly, celebrity gossip is not uncommon or different from any other gossip about people present in one’s life. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), around 65% of daily conversations revolve around gossip. Psychologists classify gossip not as a negative trait, but as another habit within communication. They assert that gossip is another form in which people build connections through the exchange of information.
Gossip is, however, a double-edged sword. One often needs to be careful about what is said in order to avoid confrontation by ensuring their conversations don’t leak out of their original parameters. Celebrity drama, however, removes the expectation of confrontation, allowing people to criticize all day knowing that they will never be face-to-face with the person they are speaking of.
The disconnect between the act and the punishment is what allows celebrity drama to thrive to the celebrity’s expense. It comes to no surprise that people are more willing to speak of celebrity drama to create interconnections between one another, as within this realm of topics the conversation is so far removed from the person spoken about that there is little to no fear of ever dealing with repercussions.
Social media’s constant growth only continues to intensify this divide. Online platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have allowed for users to create profiles out of thin air. Looking on Instagram and TikTok, there are hundreds of social media accounts that have reached prevalence from discussing celebrity drama with others. Certain social media influencers have been given platforms of thousands of followers simply for keeping up with family trees, dating records, and even the wardrobes of these strangers called celebrities.
Within a world of cancel culture and criticism where people create careers simply out of finding small flaws to dissect, it is important that standards are set to protect these individuals.
Celebrities aren’t the ultimate victim, however: it has become increasingly popular to be “relatable”- a new trend popularized by reality television throughout the 2000s. To be more relatable, celebrities have had to break down certain boundaries in order to bring their audiences closer. This leaves people who watch their shows and consume media about them thinking that they are besties, a phenomenon called parasocial relationships. The APA has also found that, “in relation to self, being famous leads to loss of privacy, sensitization, demanding expectations, gratification of ego needs, and symbolic immortality.”
Keeping people watching is essential to being a well-known celebrity, which has led to dangerous altercations as they can be tracked through social media. Such a situation led to a close death sentence for Kim Kardashian. Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris after her whereabouts were tracked on social media by armed criminals. The intruders stole her jewelry and much of what she had in the hotel room, leaving Kardashian to change her ways. She is now reclusive on social media and has hired more security as well as cut back on what she shares on social media. After the incident, Kim Kardashian has opted to stay quiet about what she has and where it is, in order to keep herself and family safe. She therefore had to trade the relatability and constant posting for less viewers.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Kim Kardashian, and Mariah Carey were not the first and will not be the last to suffer from this lack of awareness and privacy that their careers, but throughout time a higher awareness of the fact that they are strangers free to have their own independence could decrease the selfishness stemming from parasocial relationships and decrease the dangers of being a celebrity. Instead of viewing celebrities as a chunk of meat with fame written on their forehead, they should be considered adults entitled to their own autonomy as they are.
