U W NEWS

Opinion

OP-ED May 3, 2015

Maybe It Is Our Fault Celebrities Go CrazyIn February of 2014, actor, James Franco wrote an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times where he addressed recent antics of fellow actor, Shia LeBeouf. There were accusations that Shia had plagiarized his work and he apologized, conceding some fault, but his regret became fodder for further speculation as well as continued accusation.The progressively negative focus shifted from Shias sorry action to his sorry person, resulting in increasingly erratic behavior on the actors part that sent the press into a feeding frenzy. In the op-ed, Franco surmised Shias behavior could be a sign of many things, from a nervous breakdown to mere youthful recklessness. Or it could be that Shia was just doing as so many actors have done before him, lashing out against their profession and its grip on their public images.Back in the 1950s, two sociologists, Donald Horton, and Richard Wohl coined the term, para-social interaction. It describes the phenomenon that occurs when fans create an imagined, unrequited relationship with celebrities. These illusory, intimate connections can range from mild to pathological on the part of fans. It all depends on the individual who engages in this type of behavior, and everybody knows fans are notorious for obsessing and fawning over celebrities.For fans, celebrities represent what we dont have, yet truly desire. Whether thats fame, fortune or friendship, celebrities open a door into their lives, and we barge right in. It seems we want to know everything about them now--the good, the bad, and the ugly.Our present celebrity culture plays greatly into the notion of para-social interactions and drives them forward by giving us vehicles and tools to connect with our favorite celebrities. In particular, mass media, be it newspapers and magazines, online or otherwise, or celebrity news shows, or reality TV, all of these provide for the para-social addict, a virtual onslaught of celebrity news and happenings and in essence, feed our hunger for celebrity fodder. Whatever we feel we need or want to know about Kanye or Kim or Kate, 24-7, if we so desire it, we will find it. Amazing, huh? And we just eat that stuff up! Oh, and lets not forget, social media! Be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or whatever newfangled app that may be available for these purposes, they all make us feel as if we are truly interacting with our favorite stars because hey, arent these same celebrities responding to our tweets? So then, what drives celebrities to go bonkers or suffer a meltdown? Could it be the constant glare of fame, or the fanatical celebrity worship on the part of the fandom, or perhaps its the added pressure to be models of good behavior? You may not know this but stars these days are constantly fighting the battle of yin and yang by desiring fame and fortune, yet despising the cost of the same. So its no surprise when some of them go loopy. Justin Bieber cant behave, Amanda Bynes is a bong-smoking lunatic, and Miley Cyrus went from teen queen to young adult nightmare. And dont get me started on those krazy Kardashians!The gist of all this is that we fans are likely promoting this off-the-wall behavior on the part of celebrities with our incessant obsession with their lives, personal and otherwise. We relentlessly demand they be perfect, beautiful, talented, and successful all the time, and this is highly unfair and certainly unattainable. We drive them to Mount Olympus, figuratively speaking, but they cant survive up there, because, duh, it doesnt exist!If our favorite star goes off the deep end from the constant media frenzy we incite, then maybe we, as fans, need to reexamine our need to create these one-sided relationships. The least we can do is back off, and appreciate their talents without smothering them with all of our unreciprocated love, attention, and blind devotion. Its time we realize that deep down, beneath the attractive veneer and veneers, celebrities are just like us human and flawed with just a tad more talent and distinction.

Margaret Jimenez is a former para-social-ist, and a current student at the School of General Studies at Columbia University.