5 Reasons We're Obsessed With Celebrities

Celebrities fascinate us. Consider some recent randomness:  1.) Forbes Magazine recently released their "Celebrity 100," a listing of the most powerful celebrities ranked by financial influence.  2.) The Jolie-Pitt twin pictures sold for a reported $14 million. (All the money went to charity.)  3.) Paris is back in the news for being called out by McCain.  4.) When Morgan Freeman was being rushed to the hospital after his car accident last week, bystanders were (amazingly) trying to snap pictures of him being carried off by paramedics...

Collections of events like these happen constantly and all the pomp and circumstance leads some people to ask: "Who cares?!"

It's a good question. 

Why is it that celebrities capture so much of our interest? For collective debate and thought, I propose five reasons:

1. Common Ground. I recently ran into a friend I had not seen in years. After some general chit chat about life the conversation trailed off only to be re-invigorated when we began exchanging stories about common friends we went to school with. Celebrities are the same thing. In effect, they're common acquaintances. Because of their high-visibility they are one of the only subjects that a group of people can discuss and all be on the same page. Not everyone may have been to Alaska, or read The Tipping Point, or heard the latest Coldplay album, but everyone knows about major celebrity events. People look for common ground, and oftentimes celebrities are just that. 

 2. They're Interesting. I don't know about you, but I don't have any friends like Johnny Depp. (Or at least what I imagine Johnny Depp to be like.) He's an extremely interesting individual and hard not to like. I think the same is true for many celebrities. There's a reason we pay attention--they're more outwardly interesting than most of us. This goes for interesting-good and interesting-bad. But in any event, celebrities who aren't interesting, or don't continually do interesting work, don't seem to stick around very long.

  

3. Reinforcement Of Worldviews. We each have a way of looking at the world. Seth Godin talks about this and, in general, it's the idea that we look for things in marketing and pop culture that reinforce our individual views. For example, when it comes to style, if you believe in classic formality, you probably pay casual attention to George Clooney. If you like a little more bling, Kanye probably grabs your attention. The fact is, everyone from Rachael Ray to Regis to Jeff Gordon reinforce different worldviews. No matter how you look at the world, there's someone famous who approaches the world the same way you do, and when they make the news, you care.

 

4. The "New" Thing.  We like things that are new: new game shows, new technology, new cars. New gets our attention. Or, as Mad Men's Don Draper said, "it creates an itch." Celebrities (and their publicists) are the beacons of new. Not necessarily because it's what we're going to do immediately, but for the sheer fact that it's new. And we like knowing. Perhaps we'll cut our hair like Katie Holmes, perhaps not. But at least it's new. And for that, we give our attention.

5. Articulation Of A Goal.  In the movie Bend it Like Beckham, the lead in the film--a young, aspiring soccer player whose parents have a difficult time accepting her involvement in the sport--aspires to be a great soccer player, no matter the price. She focuses herself on this goal by trying to play like David Beckham. We see this all the time with the likes of Tiger Woods, Donald Trump, Carrie Underwood and Derek Jeter. These people succeed by their own unique approach. And I would argue they are more than just people: they're symbols we can grab hold of, articulate and aspire to. 

Add them all up and the culmination of these reasons might just be why, as a culture, we obsess over celebrities.

Comments

[jenka]

I think Danah Boyd has written about this a bit. She says that to kids in particular celebrity is like the ultimate freedom. If you're famous and rich you can do anything you want, go anywhere you want, and don't have to accept anyone's rules or limitations. No doubt that's a particularly appealing idea if you're a teenageer, and faced with having to deal with a lot of rules and authority. Of course in reality fame comes with its own limitations, and tons of publicists and managers, not to mention numerous industries, dictating what freedoms celebrities can or can't have. (Like the freedom to do anything in private, for instance). But still this idea that fame conveys some kind of superhuman freedom that the non-famous cannot attain I think is also a big part of what drives our obsession with celerities.

[John Drake]

yes! that's a great comment! sounds very true. thank you... i'll be sure to check out danah boyd.

[Allen Jones]

Wait, are you saying that I am not interesting, good looking and hard not to like? Maybe "vacation boy" forgot about his So. Cal friend. I can kick Jonny Depps ass.

Donald Draper