This year we saw the popularly anticipated Met Gala trend along with Roe v Wade. While people were reeling at the prospect of the government withdrawing their bodily autonomy, pictures of luxury-clad celebrities proliferated online. Ironically, the Golden Age – the inspiration for the 2022 Met Gala theme – was notorious for the wealth inequality we see now.
At last year’s Met Gala, riot police arrested Black Lives Matter protesters. Right next to the protest, the crowd waited to catch a glimpse of the celebrities who paid $35,000 to attend the taxpayer-backed event. Even worse, some of the crowd members blamed it Protesters for not being able to see their favorite celebrities. The culture of celebrity worship is dangerous. By closely tracking Hollywood’s moves, we view real people as commodities and distract us from real issues.
Although some scholars interpret our obsession with celebrities as a form of sympathy, it often goes too far and turns to blunt comments and jokes. For many people, these jokes provide them with an opportunity to talk about something other than the harsh reality of their life. This relationship is para socialThey lead us to spend time, energy, and money on people who don’t know or care about our existence. We waste our limited attention on topics that everyone forgets about within a week when they stop being popular on Twitter. When we consume celebrity gossip fueled by the media spoon, we forget why our life is such a harsh reality in the first place.
The harm of celebrity culture goes beyond wasting time. The attention we invest in the celebrity world results in dark and twisted realities. we make Fan cam edits to prosecute Johnny Depp and Amber Heard as if the domestic violence case were a sports game. We host themed wedding viewing parties for the royal family, who are the emblem of colonialism. We even flock to theaters to watch the Marvel movies, which epitomize fascist US military propaganda hiding behind the faces of Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr.
Sometimes celebrities themselves participate in celebrity cult culture. Kim kardashian She promoted starvation for young girls while wearing a Marilyn Monroe dress. Earlier in the pandemic, celebrities received backlash for singing “Imagine” by John Lennon, which they claimed would bring hope to the audience. Meanwhile, celebrities continued to host extravagant parties To celebrate themselves, and completely ignore social distancing measures.
Because of the obsessions of celebrity culture, we unconsciously consume dangerous and toxic messages all the time. We aspire to live their elusive lives of luxury and Romanticize their problems. But the temporary distraction that celebrity worship provides can worsen our health, possibly leading to “depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.”
We cannot blame individuals for wanting this sense of connection, because the need is natural. We all engage in potentially harmful habits, but in order to organize ourselves as a working class, we need to remove the wool from our eyes. Not only are celebs a distraction, but they are They take advantage of us for their own profit and then tell us to work harder. At the same time, they expect us to view their lives as connected. There is nothing to be relied upon in the way they contribute to the class division. There is nothing to be attached to the mansions they call prisons, while prisoners face actual prison conditions or while workers globally struggle to keep a roof over their heads. There’s nothing to be said about sitting in a bathtub full of rose petals calling COVID-19 the “great equalizer” when people of color, the disabled, and working-class people suffer the brunt of the virus’ impact.
If we talk about celebrities, then the talk should be about bigger topics in society. Like how quickly eggs jump on the chance of giving Unsolicited input into the position of Will Smith and Chris Rock. Or when people rallied behind Britney Spears to terminate its mandate. But the conversation should not end with a celebrity. Spears’ guardianship was also a disability rights issue and should be approached as such. Many of the problems that celebrities face are those of ordinary people but with far fewer resources.
Fans show great organizing power, but that happens along with celebrity promotion and cult relationships with celebs. While we all resort to escaping in one way or another, we need to pull ourselves together and stop wasting our time in celebrity culture.
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