It’s crazy to me how there are celebrities and then there are people who make other people (who are more or less regular people like us) into celebrities. And stay with me for a sec. WE ARE THOSE PEOPLE. We are the regular people making other regular people famous.
I sure AS HELL know plenty of regular people that can drink like the cast of Jersey Shore, pick overdramatic fights like a Real Housewife, and solve a math problem like Paris Hilton. These people are typical born into the good life with connections made by someone in their bloodline. Like THAT’S privilege at its peak and it’s unfair, but it can really only take you so far, take a look at Kim Kardashian circa 2006. Who even was Kim before her infamous sex tape and the premiere of KUWTK in 2007. She was a girl in a very high societal position as the daughter of famed lawyer Robert Kardashian and adopted daughter of Olympic Champion Bruce Jenner. She was well-off, absolutely, but nowhere near what the Kardashian brand has become today.
But what’s really fueling the fame of people like James Charles, Arielle Charnas or even Kent State gun girl Kaitlin Bennett the simple fact that I know her name is problematic enough? These are the people we love to hate.It’s time we take a step back away from the screen and think about what is keeping these wretched people, who AGAIN are more or less just like people you went to high school with, famous? It’s you. It’s me. It’s us. It’s media in general. We are talking about them, we are circulating news about them, we are giving them their publicity. And there’s no such thing as bad publicity, which becomes incredibly apparent as these people get repeatedly cancelled time after time and somehow always seem to claw their way back to the center of attention — just give it a few months since their last scandal; people forget over time.
Even though we hate them, we are desperate to keep up with them regardless of their indiscretions. We obviously have the freedom to discuss whatever we please, but don’t complain about someone when you’re really the one fueling their fame. They are living in your mind rent-free and ON TOP OF THAT every time you mention they’re name you put another dollar in their pocket. Making millions of dollars and not paying rent? In this economy??? Idts.
Many of these people who get cancelled jump to say “we have to stop cancel culture.’ Of course they speak out against it when it benefits them. But like on the real, as someone who hasn’t been cancelled yet: We need to cancel cancel culture. If you have ever had a single person say anything bad about you online, then you know how much words can hurt. Imagine when hundreds of thousands cast their judgement on you non-stop for what can seem like an eternity. I am in no way condoning anyone’s behavior just because they’re famous, but as someone who also advocates for proper mental health care, your words aren’t accomplishing what you thought they were — they’re hurting someone and it’s not making them any less famous. It’s probably making the more famous if anything because, yes, infamy is a form of fame as well.
In the wise words of my therapist, “the opposite of love is not hate. It’s indifference.” If you so passionately dislike a person who’s in the spotlight, then stop giving them the spotlight. Stop talking about them, stop writing about them, stop watching their every move. It’s a movement that everyone needs to make collectively to have an impact.