Portfolio Project

Celebrity Fascination

Everyday thousands of people standing in line at the supermarket find themselves resisting the urge to pick up one of the countless gossip magazines at the checkout. The magazines provide insight and detail into the lives of the elite “celebrity” class. When people hear the word celebrity they automatically think of someone who is wealthy, beautiful, and better than everyone else. Why do people need to feel connected to them? Why do they care what they are doing on their days off? And why do they insist on trying to look like them? There must be a reason so many people care what is going on in the lives of these special people.

The main reason why people are fascinated with the personal lives of celebrities is they think that because they have enormous wealth that they are happy. The truth is that celebrities go through the exact same things that normal everyday people go through. They just have to deal with their problems with the whole world watching. The fact that they have so much money leads people to believe that their problems are somehow different than the average person. Even though they can buy whatever they want whenever they want they still have feelings, face challenges, and get sick, just like everyone else. Money can not buy health or happiness.

Along with having unlimited money, celebrities always look like they are ready to walk down the red carpet. This is something that most people are very envious of. What the average person does not contemplate is that celebrities have people who are at their beck and call to get them red carpet ready. From personal shoppers to hairstylists this seems like a dream come true, but the reality is that for many stars, the pressure to always look amazing can lead to health problems such as eating disorders. Sometimes even the stars want to relax and dress in normal, casual clothes without ending up on the weeks “worst dressed list”.

Average people are also attracted to celebrities because they assume that fame makes the celebrity better than everyone else. Becoming a famous professional actor, actress, singer, or dancer is almost impossible for most people, so average people think that celebrities have some sort of right to be treated better than them. The truth is that most celebrities just got lucky and were at the right place at the right time. This does not suggest that they are not talented, but there are also many other talented people who did not get that big break. This concept is difficult for lots of young people to understand so they assume that the celebrities are the best at what they do.

Though reading celebrity gossip magazines is entertaining and in some way connects people into the private lives of their favourtie stars, the stories are most certainly not always believable. Tabloids often make up stories to give people what they want – gossip. There is no one definite answer to why people love the stars they way they do but all the reasons above contribute to the public’s obsession with celebrities and their personal lives.