Supplemental Post #7
Why do actors and singers get to be the famous ones? Why do people obsess over the personal lives of these people? So many gossip magazines, bloggers and media sites evolve completely around stocking celebrities and relaying their every day moves and activities to the public. And the public completely absorbs it. We are all fascinated by them!
But what I am curious about is why we are fascinated with actors and singers and models specifically. Why don't we worship successful leaders in different fields, like famous scientists, or engineers, or business leaders? Why don't we take photos of them and follow the ups and downs of their love lives? We only tend to worship and stock the personal lives of people in entertainment.
What does this say about the human condition? At first, I was going to suggest the human need for story-telling and emotion. People like movies because they get to relate to characters and follow a story. We then fall in love with the actors associated with those roles. It would make sense then that we want to continue their narrative and find out "what happens next" to their characters. Thus, we start following their personal lives to continue their narrative and fulfill that inherent human need for story.
However, we follow all people in entertainment, not just the ones in films. That includes models, singers and even sports stars, who don't tell us stories. What is it about entertainment that creates that sense of attachment? Is following their lives off the camera or stage a means for us to continue to be entertained? Does the human condition just require an endless stream of entertainment and we grow attached to the ones who begin that train of entertainment?
As a cognitive science/psychology major, I am genuinely interested in answering these questions. What about the human condition makes us grow attached to entertainers? Please comment below if you think you have an answer!
Great post! I often find myself wondering why I get so wrapped up in the lives of celebrities who I don't know personally and at times, are not great and influential people (such as successful leaders you mentioned). I think that we all see these people so often, especially with the growth of social media, that we feel a kind of attachment to them and their lives. I don't think that it is that we are attracted to the story these celebrities tell, but more the fact that celebrities are so glorified by the media, and we constantly see them in films/TV, listen to their music, etc. And as a result of social media, especially celebrity's personal accounts, as well as gossip magazines and websites, I think that people feel a connection to them and often feel like they know these celebrities personally. I think following the lives of people our culture puts on such a pedestal is intriguing and entertaining to people. Also, I feel like so many people aspire to be like celebrities and live their lives that following them so closely provides a feeling of closeness to people, where they actually feel like they are in a way a part of a celebrity's world. I definitely don't think that our culture should be so absorbed by celebrities lives, and it is much more important to know about what is going on in the world, in politics, and praise true heroes such as doctors, teachers, etc. Really interesting to think about!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post and also a great comment! I've had these thoughts on my mind for quite some time, especially after taking this class. Why on Earth are we so attached to stars and their lives? It has a lot to do with the media that greatly "glorifies" them, however going back to my childhood before I owned a computer or mobile, my cousins and I would always play the "celebrity" game where we'd choose a singer or actress and pretend to be them for an entire day! (and even make our parents call us by our celebrity names) There was and still is something unique and fantastical about being someone else, especially a celebrity! I believe that a part of the reason why we are so fascinated by them is because they are human beings just like us, but living a more exaggerated life, naively believing that they can have whatever they desire, whenever! It's almost as if following a celebrity's life (where they shop, eat go, dance, etc) both entertains us and inspires us because they are people, like you and I, living a shorter and more amplified life.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting fact is that celebrities, especially actors, are never just one person! They play different roles in different movies and we as audiences become attached to their different characters. Yet, we never really relate to them as people through their movies and that is why we are constantly searching them up on the web to see who they really are! Sometimes we just want to relate to others, and other times we just want to see how the rest are living!