I just don’t get the whole showbiz hype thing, the fanatical public interest, blah, blah. I see the magazine covers in the supermarket shouting “Katie’s ultimatum”, “Family torn apart”, “Harrison and Calista adopting”. Who are these people? I don’t know, and I don’t really care. But lots of other people do.
I decided to investigate the psychology of celebrity worship. There must be a psychological basis, especially given its widespread nature. And why don’t I share it? Is there something wrong with me?
There are a number of theories of what underpins celebrity worship. For example, the evolutionary basis – those who indulged in gossip knew who was doing what with whom, and who was likely to go loco and hack up their family and neighbours. It was important in the days of cave-persons to know who was friendly, because enemies would not just slash your wheels, they would skewer you and your children as well. Gossip about people we know, however, is fraught with peril and may cost you your job and reputation, but it’s fine to discuss the lives of the rich and famous, precisely because we don’t know them.
Then there’s the need for idolatry, against the unpopularity of organised religion. We seem to be pre-wired to worship idols, so maybe celebrities are our modern-day, Western-world, god-substitutes. Entertainment celebrities certainly take on personas far larger than real life, and with the added media attention on them, can seem omnipresent. Their relationships and shenanigans are reminiscent of the stories of the Greek gods.
Well that’s an insight, because I don’t do worship.
Social psychologists reckon that the following factors contribute: boredom – bored people find interest and entertainment in the lives of these distant figures; a search for identity – those forming their own personal identity use celebrities as role models. The downside of course is if individuals still forming their identities take too much of celebrity behaviour as a model, leading to issues with body image, how to treat people of the opposite gender, and so forth.
So that’s another insight – I’m too busy to be bored, and I’ve worked out who I am. In fact, I reinvent myself every few years, so no worries there.
So yes, maybe celebrity worship is inevitable. If it wasn’t Hollywood film stars, tennis stars or music stars, it could be political leaders, and that would be far scarier. We haven’t had a jolly good prophet for a long while.
Links:
The psychology of celebrity obsession
Addicted to celebrity gossip
The psychology of celebrity worship