Why do we as people drool over Celebrities?

[Chiliagon]

no, not everyone does! ccasion9:

I don't intend this to generalize so ya..

Anyway, why do we as regular people that don't have the spotlight every day, Paparazzi following us all the time, etc. seem to always wanna know what's going on with our favorite Celebrities?

Is there something missing in our lives so much that we get a rise or a "high" from reading and observing the hotty? or the talented?

like I enjoy listening to certain musicians because they're quite talented.. but I don't need to every day follow their lives, see what they're up to!

Ya Many of these Celebrities love it too.. they enjoy getting all glamoured up for the camera's and TV shows and bragging about their endeavours.


so why? do we truly need Celebrities?

 

[TenPenny]

There are several reasons. One is that watching a train wreck can be fascinating, that's why Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears are such favorites...
In general, people are fascinated by celebrities because we are made to believe that their lives are always interesting, never boring, they lead the lives of leisure and fun, and they're all always beautiful. It's a complete fantasy world, but if you spend your day fighting with your alcoholic spouse and drug-addled children, it's a welcome relief.

That's my theory.

Back when I was a teenager, I discovered that the more I learned about a musician that I liked the work of, the less I liked them. So with artists and musicians, I'll enjoy their work, and try to know as little as possible about them personally.

 

[karrie]

As a species we idolize all sorts of beautiful or powerful things. Dog shows, car shows, horse shows, museums.... the best of the best, the prettiest, etc., are there for us to adore. Celebrities are merely a dynamic extension of that fascination that we all have. Angelina Jolie is a walking, interacting, work of art that people love to watch. Some are classics, some are modern, some are grunge art.

I've never been a celebrity fan, but, I understand the mentality behind the fascination.

 

[VanIsle]

I do not idolize celebrities and I never have. It used to leave me shocked when people would be standing at my till reading magazines and say things like "Oh my God, Jen's pregant again!" or like words. Who cares!!!! I'm more interested in knowing if someone in my family is about to bring a new child into this world. When I was very very young, a movie with Elvis Presley came out (I don't remember which one - maybe Jail House Rock). They had a special showing in the morning for girls only because for some foolish reason, girls scream their heads off at events like this. Even at that age, I was annoyed at the screaming girls ruining the show. I liked his singing and I wanted to hear that, not the screaming. I do not understand why anyone cares which celebrity is having an affair, having a baby or is gay.

 

[lone wolf]

It's called being nosy. Dirty laundry, scandal and gossip fill voids in an otherwise boring life.

 

[Scott Free]

so why? do we truly need Celebrities?

People are innately weak and like to follow. Humans are herd animals (generally speaking) and need constant reassurance. They like to know most people hold the same opinion as themselves, they like to know what they think is special or beautiful others think it is too. So celebrity is a way of communication within the herd. We agree on what talent is and what beauty is or what funny is etc, through celebrity. We can further divide ourselves up into sub herds (peer groups) based on what music or movies we like (or don't like) etc. Celebrity also provides a means of comparison so a person can calculate their own place in the herd. For example, celebrity X goes on a drunken rampage and has an affair. We feel good condemning their behavior but also consoled about our own - we aren't that bad after all (and if we are what of it? X did it too, maybe I'm special like that! Maybe I just need to find a new herd). In short, celebrity relives anxiety.

 

[Lessie]

no, not everyone does! ccasion9:

I don't intend this to generalize so ya..

Anyway, why do we as regular people that don't have the spotlight every day, Paparazzi following us all the time, etc. seem to always wanna know what's going on with our favorite Celebrities?

Is there something missing in our lives so much that we get a rise or a "high" from reading and observing the hotty? or the talented?

like I enjoy listening to certain musicians because they're quite talented.. but I don't need to every day follow their lives, see what they're up to!

Ya Many of these Celebrities love it too.. they enjoy getting all glamoured up for the camera's and TV shows and bragging about their endeavours.


so why? do we truly need Celebrities?

For my opinion people do that when its own life seemed bored and routine for them. And (as a usual) when they are not real intellect persons. It concerns the case when a person like a yellow Press and know about Celebrities chiefly in this type of Press.

But a very different matter when we want to know about personal characters and milestones in the life of some distinguished people of our or the last centuries. Because it could give a big experience, it is very important for understanding the creation of these people and very often it relates with Hystory.

 

[Johnnny]

i dont care for many celebreties but i sure as hell respect Alan Jackson, he is the ****ing man...

I would kill to meet the guy, you know have a few beers, shake his hand, and talk about life.... That guy is down to earth in his interviews, songs, great role model...

How many of your metal bands or rap posse's make music for the working man?

 

[MichelleIMG]

I honestly have no idea either.....it is so stupid...who cares about there life...worry about yours

 

[gopher]

it readily distracts us from personal problems - therefore, not necessarily a bad idea

 

[Kreskin]

As a species we idolize all sorts of beautiful or powerful things. Dog shows, car shows, horse shows, museums.... the best of the best, the prettiest, etc., are there for us to adore. Celebrities are merely a dynamic extension of that fascination that we all have. Angelina Jolie is a walking, interacting, work of art that people love to watch. Some are classics, some are modern, some are grunge art.

I've never been a celebrity fan, but, I understand the mentality behind the fascination.

Very interesting. You're probably right.

I also wonder if there is some repetitive thing going on in the brain. If a backyard lump of dirt was on the news everyday, discussed on larry king and constantly sung about at sold out concerts, we'd probably hyperventilate upon meeting that dirt for the first time.

 

[Bar Sinister]

I have no idea why people idolize sports and entertainment personalities, but it seems to be something that has been around for a long time and became accelerated with the advent of electronic media in the 20th Century.

One of the cleverest TV routines devised was when talk show host David Letterman decided to make celebrities out of two ordinary shop owners called Sirajul and Mujibar. Immigrants from Bangladesh, Mujibar and Sirajul were included in various comedy routines and eventually sent by Letterman on a cross country goodwill tour of the USA. They were treated like top ranked film stars and were often greeted by the mayors of major cities and given the keys to the city. Letterman's tongue in cheek message in all this - tell people that someone is a celebrity and they will be treated like celebrities. Once Letterman dropped them from his show (due to the closing of their business) they disappeared into obscurity.


Sirajul and Mujibur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
YouTube - Mujibar & Sirajul leave for trip across America

 

[wulfie68]

I have no idea why people idolize sports and entertainment personalities, but it seems to be something that has been around for a long time and became accelerated with the advent of electronic media in the 20th Century.

As I read this, I had a couple thoughts pop in. First is that sports celebrities and "performing arts" celebrities share the fact that they are in the spotlight and near the pinacles of their chosen calling. I also think there are some subtle differences in the types of adulation.

I remember as a kid, all the boys wanted to play hockey like Guy Lafleur or Darryl Sittler (and later Wayne Gretzky). In our childhood fantasies, we wanted to be them. I think some of the sports fan never grows out of that. We want to try and be a part of it, even though we know we don't have the talent/ability to do it on the ice surface/field/pitch/etc. Part of it also comes down to a love of the game itself: when I was 35 and playing hockey in a "beer-belly" league it was fun to go out and play, and I still love watching the games. I am a fan of sports like hockey and football and I will encourage my son to play them, when he is old enough, if he wants to (I have no intention of living vicariously through him and have told my wife not to allow me to, if I ever show the inclination).

The performing arts seem a little different to me because it seems less a desire to emulate than to almost be involved with the celebrity. People want to be Angelina Jolie's or Brad Pitt's new lover or best friend. Its more of a romanticized connection with people that appear to be unhappy with their own circumstance.

I really don't know. I just know that at times I wouldn't mind having some of the money that some of these celebrities seem to throw away sometimes, but I wouldn't want their lifestyle, from the glimpses I have seen from my cheap seats.

 

[AnnaG]

"Why do we as people drool over Celebrities?"

lol All of the above reasons given.

Personally, I don't think it matters much. Some people think belly button lint is extremely important. Some think exploring space is important. Or stem cell research. Or finding the perfect surfing wave. Or ....

Quote of SPAM Removed.

huh?

 

[karrie]

don't quote the spam, report it.

 

[AnnaG]

I wasn't sure what it was. I thought someone had meant to post it in a thread about paintball wars or something.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

"Why do we as people drool over Celebrities?" I'd say that's not quite the right question. It's as apes that we drool over celebrities, because it makes good evolutionary sense in terms of survival and reproductive chances to be obsequious towards high status members of the group.

 

[talloola]

I have always felt very embarrassed, dissapointed and have no respect for all the young girls who scream
and holler, and some do other things as well, when a rock star is performing.

I first time I saw that behavior as a teenager, watching them on tv, and then when i went to see elvis live in
vancouver, then when the beatles performed, the behavior of the young girls was so degrading to them, that
in my opinion, any of those rock stars, would just laugh at them behind their backs, but it was part of
their bread and butter, so I guess for them, it is 'bring it on'.

I enjoyed lots of performers as a young girl, then later on my four daughters were very up to date with most
of the rock stars, went to see many of them perform, BUT none of them would ever behave in that deplorable
way, but they definitely rocked and sang and moved with the music, which is different.
They hated to see young girls act that way too.

And, also when tom jones was very popular, it wasn't just young girls, but grown women, throwing their panties
at him on stage, (must have been chilly on the way home) lol no thongs in those days, the only thongs we
wore were on our feet.

I love and watch many athletes perform, but enjoy them for how 'good' they play the game, or skate, or
do gymnastics, or whatever sport it is, but I never look up to them as someone who is better than I am,
or wish I was with them, no way.

Celebrities are just people, and many of them make asses of themselves for all to see.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

I have always felt very embarrassed, disappointed and have no respect for all the young girls who scream
and holler, and some do other things as well, when a rock star is performing.

Yeah, I understand that one. I remember watching some of my female contemporaries swooning and shrieking over the Beatles when I was in high school (there's a good clue to how old I am), and wondering WTF was wrong with them. That wasn't what most vexed me, but I think it's part of the same behaviour pattern. There were a whole bunch of them, a minority to be sure, but a significant minority, who thought they were nobody unless they were in a serious relationship with a guy. I thought by the time my own children got to high school in the 1990s, after decades of feminism and consciousness raising, that pattern would have disappeared. But no, it was still there, undiminished as far as I could tell, and drew similar feelings of contempt from my children. My mother was like that too, she defined her value in terms of the man she was having a relationship with, and after dad died she spent a decade going through a series of foolish and destructive relationships with ancient fools, even married (and again buried) one who was nowhere close to being her equal in any sense that mattered. But he was male and interested in her, and that seemed to be all that mattered to her, didn't matter that he was an ignorant uneducated bigot. I vividly remember her telling one of my sisters, when her husband had attained the status of a professor at the U of Toronto, "now you have arrived, now you're somebody," and my sister (bless her sensibilities) being mightily offended by that. And she was right to be so.

Ladies, feminists, if macho jerk males offend you, get your weaker sisters to stop breeding with them.

 

[talloola]

Yeah, I understand that one. I remember watching some of my female contemporaries swooning and shrieking over the Beatles when I was in high school (there's a good clue to how old I am), and wondering WTF was wrong with them. That wasn't what most vexed me, but I think it's part of the same behaviour pattern. There were a whole bunch of them, a minority to be sure, but a significant minority, who thought they were nobody unless they were in a serious relationship with a guy. I thought by the time my own children got to high school in the 1990s, after decades of feminism and consciousness raising, that pattern would have disappeared. But no, it was still there, undiminished as far as I could tell, and drew similar feelings of contempt from my children. My mother was like that too, she defined her value in terms of the man she was having a relationship with, and after dad died she spent a decade going through a series of foolish and destructive relationships with ancient fools, even married (and again buried) one who was nowhere close to being her equal in any sense that mattered. But he was male and interested in her, and that seemed to be all that mattered to her, didn't matter that he was an ignorant uneducated bigot. I vividly remember her telling one of my sisters, when her husband had attained the status of a professor at the U of Toronto, "now you have arrived, now you're somebody," and my sister (bless her sensibilities) being mightily offended by that. And she was right to be so.

Ladies, feminists, if macho jerk males offend you, get your weaker sisters to stop breeding with them.

yes females have to take a big step back and really see how pitiful they look 'while' grovelling and wimpering
and publicly making am embarrassing display of themselves, where is their pride.
Those celebrities on stage are no different than they are, they just happen to be able to play an instrument,
and sing and look good, so enjoy it, but remain a classy person who likes themselves as well as the
celebrity on stage.