The problem with celebrity worship

Content Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide and sexual assault.

As the #Me, too movement didn’t expose the dark and twisted side of stardom for you, which it certainly should have over the past month. When Kate Middleton went missing, conspiracy theories flooded the TikTok accounts, claiming the Princess of Wales had died in a Diana-esque incident, had a nervous breakdown or even had a Brazilian butt lift. An edited image of Kate and her three children added fuel to the fire. On March 22, Kate announced that she had cancer and was recovering from abdominal surgery before undergoing chemotherapy. Even though she wanted to To keep the matter private for the sake of her children, the world seemingly pressured Kate to reveal this secret.

As the mystery of Kate’s disappearance reached its peak, Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television released the first four episodes of “Quiet on Set,” a documentary series about Dan Schneider. Schneider, Nickelodeon’s former golden boy, was the mastermind behind many of the most iconic children’s shows for millennials and Gen Zers growing up in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I still remember the outro clip ‘Schneider’s Bakery’ that accompanied the end credits of ‘iCarly’ and ‘Drake & Josh’. Although his shows were made for young teens, Schneider placed blatant sexual innuendos and demonstrations throughout: bodily fluids in motion, moaning, and lots of toes. Off-screen, Dan was abusive and out of control. Crew members massaged him on set, he encouraged unpaid overtime, and he split wages between two of his female employees — one of whom he pressured to tell a story to the staff while bending over the desk as if she were being sodomized . Oh, and there were several sex offenders on the set of his shows. But until #MeToo, Schneider had virtually no responsibility. Instead of focusing on Schneider’s actions, the internet was busy following the public meltdown of Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes and performer Britney Spears.

We can’t blame viewers for the Middleton or Schneider-Bynes extravaganza. It is clear that the news media and the legal system need internal reforms. Child stars should receive mandatory mental health checks, and states should expand laws protecting celebrities from intrusive paparazzi and the manipulation of money-hungry relatives. Still, I believe that changing the way we view celebrities will lead to a more positive society, both within and beyond the confines of Hollywood, Universal Studios and Hollywood. the Royal family.

At the same time, we must understand that celebrities are both normal people and walking advertisements, whose job is to sell the latest movie, product or trend. When we worship celebrities, we hurt them – and ourselves.

Our tendency to put celebrities on a pedestal has led many psychologists to categorize “celebrity worship” as a clinical disorder. In our society, celebrities are gods. While there have always been screaming fans eager to touch the Beatles, or in extreme cases kill John Lennon, the expansion of smartphones and social media platforms has given rise to a new generation of makeshift paparazzi and internet weirdos. Nowadays, celebrities hardly have any privacy. They have become products of the general public. We scrutinize their every move and comment on every interaction.

Kate’s public statement is a less extreme result of what happens when we intrude into the lives of celebrities. While the pressures of fame have likely led to a long list of intentional or drug-induced suicides by celebrities, certain deaths are undeniably caused by fame. In 1932, at just 24 years old, British actor Peg Entwistle fell to his death from the “H” of the Hollywood sign. In 1934, actor, director and film writer Lou Tellegen stabbed himself with an engraved pair of gold scissors, leaving his body surrounded by accolades from his bygone Holywood career. In 1968, American actor and politician Albert Dekker hanged himself after writing negative film reviews with lipstick all over his body.

These events are tragic, both for these individuals and for humanity. “Copycat suicides” are a real phenomenon. But even if fans don’t directly commit suicide in response to these celebrities, there is fear of such a phenomenon proves that celebrities dictate culture, and that widespread celebrity impersonation is real.

Young women buy lip fillers to look like Kylie Jenner, while young men fall prey to Andrew Tate’s seductive machismo and misogynistic rhetoric. When these celebrities push their exaggerated and restrictive definitions of morality or beauty, follows their cult. Unfortunately, because there are always new products to sell, there are always new ideals to promote.

Because celebrities carefully craft their public images, we simply don’t know their true personalities. Inevitably, we give huge platforms to terrible people. We treat Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in films produced by Harvey Weinstein, like gods. Weinstein, who controlled hundreds of these actors-turned-gods, became an untouchable gentleman. With actors desperate for a slice of fame, piles of cash and adoring fans, such a figure becomes unstoppable.

Certainly, celebrities can be positive role models, inspire the next generation of changemakers and champion social issues. We can look up to these numbers, but make them alien is unhealthy because it puts too much pressure on them to be perfect and on us to be perfect like them.