American
celebrity obsession shows mere escapism
Aneya
Fernando
Demi and Ashton. Brad and Angelina. Tom and Katie. Who on this campus does
not recognize those now-infamous names? Probably only a handful of you.
These are the names of celebrities so famous, a surname is just superfluous
information. So tell me, how do you know these people? From reading about them
in magazines like People and US Weekly? From seeing the paparazzi hound them
like savage animals? From watching E?
However you heard about them, the fact is, you know them. Is that not a little
weird? Imagine being, God forbid, Britney Spears’ baby boy?
Imagine the whole world knowing your full name and what you looked like a few
weeks after birth. How creepy would that be?
So the question is: Why is our culture so obsessed with celebrities?
Well, as you might have guessed, I have a few theories. See, I never realized
our culture was so celebrity obsessed until I was immersed in a
completely different one.
I’m talking about France. France has their fair share of pop stars and
celebrity magazines, but not to the extent we do. I found myself feeling
deprived when I was there.
I said to myself, “Where’s my People magazine? I need to know where
Justin and Cameron went for Christmas.” I soon realized I couldn’t
get it over there.
And that’s when I asked myself, why do I care about these people? I don’t
even know them. Why am I obsessing?
It’s all about escapism. It’s about escaping our own dull realities
and hearing about other people’s more glamorous ones. Other people’s
turmoil makes you feel better about your own life.
Oh, poor Sienna Miller. Jude cheated on her with the nanny. Thank God, my husband
never did that.
And that poor Elizabeth Hurley. She’s arguably one of the most beautiful
women in the world, and yet Hugh Grant felt the need to cheat on her, with
a prostitute, no less. Thank God my boyfriend never did that. And so on.
So you see, we’re not actually fascinated by them. It’s that they’re
a distraction from our own lives. They unconsciously make us feel better about
ourselves. I mean, it’s an ego boost to see Britney taking out her garbage,
with a big zit on her face, in flannel pajamas and
greasy hair. It’s like, see? Celebrities are just like us.
I could look like Britney if I had a team who did my hair and makeup, right?
Sure, why not.
Sometimes celebrities make us want to better ourselves. Why can’t I look
like Halle Berry, you wonder, while flipping through the latest issue of InStyle?
Well, if I worked out more, ate less and got a facial or two, maybe I could.
So in the end, it’s perfectly fine every once in a while to browse through
a US Weekly. You just have to realize your own life is pretty good too, even
if sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. Always remember to participate
in your own reality. You never know, you might just find it surprisingly entertaining.
Aneya Fernando is a freshman journalism major.
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