Why Are We So Obsessed With Celebrities?
September 28th 2006 23:59
As I stood at the supermarket checkout and browsed through this weeks selection of women's magazines I had an epiphany. Here it is.......all of those magazines are absolute rubbish. They contain stories (and I use the term 'story' loosely to describe their articles) that are lucky to contain a shred of truth. These stories are then recycled endlessly and seem to focus on only a select number of topics which include:
- Stars who are too thin
- Stars who have gained weight
- Stars without make-up, or Stars looking terrible
- Stars looking fabulous on the red carpet
Well duh, I hear you all saying. Everyone in the english speaking world knows that these magazines are trash. And very few people admit to reading them.
And yet, they sell. They sell a lot. And I have to confess, I buy these magazines regularly. Why? Because even though I know it's trash, and these stories don't even come close to really letting us in to a celebrities live (as the stories are based on speculation alone most of the time), the truth is that it gives us a tiny glimpse of how the 'other half' live.
And who of us hasn't wanted to be spectularly rich and famous at some point? Who hasn't wanted to go and walk the red carpet at an awards ceremony?
And the truth is, that's what these magazines afford us. On the one hand, they show us what it must be like to be rich and famous.....while simultaneously making us feel a little bit better about our own lives, because after all, papparazzi aren't waiting outside our doors to get a picture of us in our tracksuit when we haven't done our hair and make up.
Celebrities complain about the papparazzi and the invasion of their privacy. A lot of us agree that the papparazzi is too intrusive and are lesser people for hunting down celebs. And yet the truth is, the papparazzi are simply filling a demand. A demand that we, as celebrity voyeurs create.
So, why do I buy crappy trashy magazines that I know will only make me angry because they'll claim Lindsay Lohan is pregnant just because she happened to touch her stomach. Or because they'll show pictures of Nicole Ritchie and protest that Hollywood is promoting an unhealthy body image, only to show a layout of stars with cellulite 5 pages later? Why? Because for half an hour I can immerse myself in a world I'll never know and will (thankfully) never have to deal with, and wish that I got to wear stunning frocks to awards shows and rub shoulders A-list stars, while at the same time being thankful that I'll never be in a position where I have to worry that a photographer has a long-distance camera lens trained on my cellulite ridden body while I'm at the beach!
- Stars who are too thin
- Stars who have gained weight
- Stars without make-up, or Stars looking terrible
- Stars looking fabulous on the red carpet
Well duh, I hear you all saying. Everyone in the english speaking world knows that these magazines are trash. And very few people admit to reading them.
And yet, they sell. They sell a lot. And I have to confess, I buy these magazines regularly. Why? Because even though I know it's trash, and these stories don't even come close to really letting us in to a celebrities live (as the stories are based on speculation alone most of the time), the truth is that it gives us a tiny glimpse of how the 'other half' live.
And who of us hasn't wanted to be spectularly rich and famous at some point? Who hasn't wanted to go and walk the red carpet at an awards ceremony?
And the truth is, that's what these magazines afford us. On the one hand, they show us what it must be like to be rich and famous.....while simultaneously making us feel a little bit better about our own lives, because after all, papparazzi aren't waiting outside our doors to get a picture of us in our tracksuit when we haven't done our hair and make up.
Celebrities complain about the papparazzi and the invasion of their privacy. A lot of us agree that the papparazzi is too intrusive and are lesser people for hunting down celebs. And yet the truth is, the papparazzi are simply filling a demand. A demand that we, as celebrity voyeurs create.
So, why do I buy crappy trashy magazines that I know will only make me angry because they'll claim Lindsay Lohan is pregnant just because she happened to touch her stomach. Or because they'll show pictures of Nicole Ritchie and protest that Hollywood is promoting an unhealthy body image, only to show a layout of stars with cellulite 5 pages later? Why? Because for half an hour I can immerse myself in a world I'll never know and will (thankfully) never have to deal with, and wish that I got to wear stunning frocks to awards shows and rub shoulders A-list stars, while at the same time being thankful that I'll never be in a position where I have to worry that a photographer has a long-distance camera lens trained on my cellulite ridden body while I'm at the beach!
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