In a study in more than 600 people, psychologists found that one in three participants consider themselves moderate to advanced celebrity worshippers (Horovitz); and those undaunted people do not bare shame admitting it. I divulge that I include myself as a part of that 1/3 who mildly delve into gossip magazines and reality TV shows of those rich, famous, and oh-so unattainable ones we call celebrities. Face it—society is star-struck. Media coverage continually reaches new heights as we voluntarily support them in engulfing ourselves in celebrities’ daily lives. Society accepts celebrity worship as a controlling and ongoing phenomenon, and like everything else, it is, too, guilty of its good, bad, and ugly side.
Fascination with boundaries; no wrongdoing transpires with fascination in its boundaries. People who show interest in the lives of celebrities but also involve themselves in meaningful relationships and activities appear among the harmless in the sea of worshippers; common sense proves that people naturally take interest in what or who society spotlights. No crime attributes when indulging oneself in a little guilty pleasure involving the gossip and scandals in celebs’ lives, for they appear before the public eye; the fundamental purpose of their fame exists for that reason, right? Many celebrities possess the power to encourage us in making constructive changes in our own lives in response to their positive messages. When someone reveres another for their feats, those exciting exploits spurn fans onto their own gains. These powerful, influential celebrities encourage voting and raise funds for natural disaster victims; they create and finance charities, all the while stimulating economic growth. The supply of this particular ruling media depends on the demand for celebrities, and in today’s society that demand appears rather high.
A fine line exists in the practice of celebrity worship in where harmless fascination crosses over to destructive obsession. When fans become more concerned with the lives of celebrities than the current events of their own, problems begin to arise. Depression, anxiety, and a decrease in self-esteem occur as just a few potential problems that result from one’s focus and energy withdrawn from their own life and onto the life of someone else. “Follow the leader” no longer exists as only a children’s game; our DNA inherently accepts the principle that when leaders develop, followers ensue (Lagorio). A false reality arises for most fans when promoted celebrity worship goes prominently wrong. Celebrity triumphs can portray to young ones that fame and fortune actually come easily; from that ideal the principle of discipline, fortitude, and hard work built beneath the success lacks understanding.
As mentioned before, sometimes fans go to further extremes to be akin to their idols; some even venture further. These fans begin to figuratively substitute their own life with the life of their esteemed icon. Obsession now transforms into delusion and from here it gets ugly. That fan becomes The Superfan, forming crazed connections to ones they believe they know and living vicariously according to their lives. These worshippers do not tread lightly but severely invade in and on what goes on with their fixated idol. Many times the superfan will engage in stalking the celebrity and in return gets smacked with a restraint order, only further spiraling their unfilled, underachieved, and unstable desires. In these ugly situations, these superfans become addicts, addicted to the frenzy of their false-existing realisms.
In all societies, past and present, people find the need to blame another. In a case of extreme celebrity worship gone wrong, who is to blame? Although we cannot assume one single straightforward answer, one controversial question still remains: is this celebrital worshiping age a phenomenal result of the good, the bad, and the ugly of those whom we dub celebrities, or is the prime factor the result of the persistent subsistence of that fan? Some pick at society, some the media, and others even question the fault of the celebrities themselves in their pursuit of never-ending attention and fame.