I agree with the thing about the celebrities themselves being the ones most hurt by our excesses. Some of those excesses are rather obvious - stalking, for example (... though looking at the way some younger fans of bands in particular seem to do that without apparently noticing that following their idols around and waiting in front of their houses is stalking, this seems to be less obvious than it should be...), or fans attacking each other over their idol - but others, like the constant demand of absolute perfection especially from the media, are not, and yet they're just as damaging. I don't think that all the breakdowns are from the attention celebs achieve - a lot of the people who get into acting already have the kind of attention/approval/adoration-needing personalities that aren't particularly stable anyway - but I do think that the attention can excacerbate existing problems or cause new problems in some people. And yes, I think the only way we can prevent that from happenings is through learning more restraint and respect. - Oh, and remember that they're human beings in their own right who make mistakes and are (huge) idiots sometimes and hurt others with their words and actions without meaning to, just like all of us, except that they have people with cameras to actually catch them when they're doing that.
(Out of curiousity: What was that "threatened to throw acid in someone's face" incident about? I don't think I've heard of it before!)
Yeah, there's a weird mix of utter glorification of celebrities, and utter dehumanization. If we didn't idealize celebrities and use them as models for our own morals and view of the world and whatever, then it wouldn't be such a crisis when they behaved like human beings! I do tend to idolize certain celebrities and then get disillusioned, I must admit - but if they've done something particularly morally objectionable (usually sexist. . . so many sexist things) then I'm probably not going to want to support them financially anymore, even if I haven't written them off as a decent human being or whatever.
Another thought - I'm not the type to be "inspired" by someone, but I know that for some people, celebrities can actually inspire personal, hopefully positive changes in their life, which can cause a greater degree of attachment to the celebrity in general and to an idealized image of them in particular. So that's troubling, but at the same time I think that potential for inspiration is one of the positive benefits of our celebrity-mad culture.
Actually speaking of dehumanization, something I didn't mention that much in the entry is the way celebrity spouses and significant others are treated - I've been reading a certain amount of what people say about footballers and their "WAGs" since the World Cup and it's quite depressing. Another worrying side effect.
That's a good point about the personality types being a possible contributing factor in emotional breakdowns. Plus acting is a profession that might require greater awareness of your emotions and that encourages you to express them.
(The acid thing is from here, which was the most recent and concrete example I had of mad Johnny's fans, having not really been in the fandom at all lately. Very disturbing!)
I do tend to idolize certain celebrities and then get disillusioned, I must admit - but if they've done something particularly morally objectionable (usually sexist. . . so many sexist things) then I'm probably not going to want to support them financially anymore, even if I haven't written them off as a decent human being or whatever.
Our reactions as fans to "our" idols doing something morally (or even legally) objectionable or plain wrong is very interesting, I think. This is something I've been thinking about for quite a long time, but I don't know whether I actually mentioned it before - I might have, but I can't remember it anymore. Stop me if this sounds very familiar, OK? Anyway, to me it seems that there are two "main" ways people react to celebrity doing stuff like that: They're either disillusioned and, depending on how severe the offense is, lose interest/stop supporting that celebrity or actively start hating them, or they're forgiving/protective in a way that they usually would only be with family or close friends. Like people disappointed by a prospective love-interest/partner/friend on the one hand, and like people who defend someone like Roman Polanski, or this Japanese band guy who molested a girl on the train on the other hand, who always sound just like the friends and family of molesters/rapists/murderers/criminals-in-general who're not famous. It seems to me that we build the sort of emotional connection to idols (which is totally one-sided but real nonetheless) that closely resembles the emotional connection we have to family, close friends and love-interests and that is what compells us to act in certain ways. (And because it is one-sided, for some people, it obviously turns into more of a "real" relationship than even their RL relationships, which is frankly terrifying...)
I don't know, that's just a hypothesis, but it kind of explains (for me, at least), why I'm often not as bothered by celebrities doing/saying stupid/offending things (be they sexist, racist, or other) as I would be with other people I don't know. Like, for example, when I watch "Top Gear" (do you know the show? - It's weirdly interesting, even if you aren't into cars!), which has three presenters who like to make gay jokes and (pretty horribly stereotypical) jokes about Germans, Americans and everything (and everyone) else that they can find. I sometimes think that I should be more offended by what they say, but through watching them on TV, I've got the impression that they would be different with their own family and friends (and I know that at least one of them is a close friend of Stephen Fry's), which makes it much more acceptable to me. ...Which is weird, because I don't actually know them, so I don't know for certain that they would be different off camera! But they give me, as a viewer, the feeling that I do know them, which makes all the difference.
...Ugh, I think this came out totally convoluted, which wouldn't surprise me, because I'm about to fall asleep, so I think I should stop here. ^^"
(Though I just have to say: I don't know what "WAGs" are, but it sounds really horrible already! And yes, the way that celebrity SO - or, as that acid incident shows, people who're even suspected of being that, which is very worrying - are treated by fans is honestly frightening. D:)
I don't think that all the breakdowns are from the attention celebs achieve - a lot of the people who get into acting already have the kind of attention/approval/adoration-needing personalities that aren't particularly stable anyway - but I do think that the attention can excacerbate existing problems or cause new problems in some people. And yes, I think the only way we can prevent that from happenings is through learning more restraint and respect. - Oh, and remember that they're human beings in their own right who make mistakes and are (huge) idiots sometimes and hurt others with their words and actions without meaning to, just like all of us, except that they have people with cameras to actually catch them when they're doing that.
(Out of curiousity: What was that "threatened to throw acid in someone's face" incident about? I don't think I've heard of it before!)
Reply
Another thought - I'm not the type to be "inspired" by someone, but I know that for some people, celebrities can actually inspire personal, hopefully positive changes in their life, which can cause a greater degree of attachment to the celebrity in general and to an idealized image of them in particular. So that's troubling, but at the same time I think that potential for inspiration is one of the positive benefits of our celebrity-mad culture.
Actually speaking of dehumanization, something I didn't mention that much in the entry is the way celebrity spouses and significant others are treated - I've been reading a certain amount of what people say about footballers and their "WAGs" since the World Cup and it's quite depressing. Another worrying side effect.
That's a good point about the personality types being a possible contributing factor in emotional breakdowns. Plus acting is a profession that might require greater awareness of your emotions and that encourages you to express them.
(The acid thing is from here, which was the most recent and concrete example I had of mad Johnny's fans, having not really been in the fandom at all lately. Very disturbing!)
Reply
Our reactions as fans to "our" idols doing something morally (or even legally) objectionable or plain wrong is very interesting, I think. This is something I've been thinking about for quite a long time, but I don't know whether I actually mentioned it before - I might have, but I can't remember it anymore. Stop me if this sounds very familiar, OK?
Anyway, to me it seems that there are two "main" ways people react to celebrity doing stuff like that: They're either disillusioned and, depending on how severe the offense is, lose interest/stop supporting that celebrity or actively start hating them, or they're forgiving/protective in a way that they usually would only be with family or close friends.
Like people disappointed by a prospective love-interest/partner/friend on the one hand, and like people who defend someone like Roman Polanski, or this Japanese band guy who molested a girl on the train on the other hand, who always sound just like the friends and family of molesters/rapists/murderers/criminals-in-general who're not famous. It seems to me that we build the sort of emotional connection to idols (which is totally one-sided but real nonetheless) that closely resembles the emotional connection we have to family, close friends and love-interests and that is what compells us to act in certain ways. (And because it is one-sided, for some people, it obviously turns into more of a "real" relationship than even their RL relationships, which is frankly terrifying...)
I don't know, that's just a hypothesis, but it kind of explains (for me, at least), why I'm often not as bothered by celebrities doing/saying stupid/offending things (be they sexist, racist, or other) as I would be with other people I don't know. Like, for example, when I watch "Top Gear" (do you know the show? - It's weirdly interesting, even if you aren't into cars!), which has three presenters who like to make gay jokes and (pretty horribly stereotypical) jokes about Germans, Americans and everything (and everyone) else that they can find. I sometimes think that I should be more offended by what they say, but through watching them on TV, I've got the impression that they would be different with their own family and friends (and I know that at least one of them is a close friend of Stephen Fry's), which makes it much more acceptable to me. ...Which is weird, because I don't actually know them, so I don't know for certain that they would be different off camera! But they give me, as a viewer, the feeling that I do know them, which makes all the difference.
...Ugh, I think this came out totally convoluted, which wouldn't surprise me, because I'm about to fall asleep, so I think I should stop here. ^^"
(Though I just have to say: I don't know what "WAGs" are, but it sounds really horrible already! And yes, the way that celebrity SO - or, as that acid incident shows, people who're even suspected of being that, which is very worrying - are treated by fans is honestly frightening. D:)
Reply
Leave a comment