I was in Los Angeles, California a couple weeks ago and I had the amazing opportunity to do some of the more “touristy” stuff. On the TMZ bus tour (which I would highly suggest by the way as it was entertaining and fun), the guide asked the crowd, “why are people obsessed with celebrities?”
I’m certain that there are many answers to this question that one can imagine. One idea that I had is some people tend to have an interest in the lifestyles of others that may be different from our own. I know that I’m fascinated with every new person that walks through my door and listening to their stories and experiences that may or may not be relatable to my own or others that I’ve heard. When it all boils down to it, we have much more common with our needs and experiences than is apparent on the surface level details.
I’m not obsessed with celebrities. In fact, when I was younger, people would ask me who my celebrity crush was and I told them I don’t have one because I don’t know celebrities personally. I’m attracted to a person‘s brain and personality, not a person’s looks. Perhaps some of these feeling of having a crush on celebrities are born out of the way we want to perceive a person instead of actually knowing the person themselves. It could be the way we perceive a person in the movies, which is unlike who a person is in real life.
Building off that idea, I think another reason that people may have a particular interest (or obsession) with celebrities could be that this musician, public figure, actor, etc. may have come into their personal lives during a time where the influence of the person held significance. Perhaps the musician released the song that helped them get through a difficult time or the actors starred in a movie that a person may have watched with their family and created great memories within that period of their life. Listening to the song, watching a movie or even seeing that particular celebrity might spark positive memories and associations with the escape that they may have provided. Almost like they provided a comfort to them unknowingly, and their personality traits are projected as positive, even though this may not be who the celebrity is as a person.
It’s amazing how our development and memories from the past can create a foundation of who we are currently. It can shape our interests, how we view the world and how we treat others (and like to be treated).
I found that a lot of people who enjoy specific fetishes always associate it back to childhood memories. Typically, memories are positive. For example, Mr. B shared his psychological reasoning for his sock fetish here highlighting the association between unconditional love and a forbidden (exciting) experience.
What is interesting is that some fetishes (or even choices in partners for some) may have held negative memories, such as physical, emotional or psychological abuse, but this type of treatment holds a familiarity that can be argued as a source of comfort in a controlled setting. For example, perhaps a person’s mother berated them as a child and the individual may enjoy being degraded verbally by their partner, which may be able to explain some fetishes that may not make sense to some people. Alternatively, I’ve also spoken with people that have specific fetishes based on things that they were missing in their childhood. For example, one person that I had a T&A session enjoyed releasing their emotions during session and being comforted because this was something that they never had the opportunity to experience during their childhood. I will expand more on this later in another blog.
Through self reflection and introspection, what do you think?
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