I don’t know who anyone is, anymore

[Nobiggerthanyourhand]

Does anybody else not understand popular culture?

I do a bit of MN and I look at the Daily Mail online (please stay with me), and sometimes I watch programmes like Strictly and Masterchef and … I don’t know who any one is.

Molly-Mae
Tommy Fury
Zara McDermott
Sam
Pete from strictly with the tattoos
someone called Maud who he might have been in a relationship with

What can I do to understand this better? How do these people become so important?

Yea, but when you google you get film titles you’ve never heard of , or podcasts you’ve never heard of, or acronyms, or bands you haven’t heard of…

That’s ok. Better to accept it and just know Pete as the tattooed chap on Strictly who could laugh at himself and tried really hard.

He may be best friends with JB and CK’s ex, and have been in Life Beyond but that’s not actually meaningful and relevant if you don’t know what it is.

He was a dancer. She was in a pop group. He’s an athlete. She’s a news reader. That’s all you need.

I think there is a trend form good looking role models who have achieved success and came (with little talent). Remember not everyone does A levels or degrees so having influencers that can be related I can see be attractive to some. It's shallow in my opinion but there are those who really do put a lot of self esteem simply into appearance.

People who use social media and whatever they have eg looks, name, infamy to create a career for themselves. Get it right eg Molly Mae and in theory you get a good living. However you are constantly trying to create content to keep/increase your views and get more/better sponsors. They are disposable people but that's showbiz. The one who was having sex with 100 men is the extreme. Now she wants to do a 1000. After that what is there, a country then a continent? None of those people impact my life so I won't worry if they succeed/fail

Understanding who the non celebrities will not make you less ignorant

That's normal though inst it? I remember my parents being clueless as to who the celebs I knew of were.

My son, now 20, never watched TV from the age of about 11, unless it was sport related, I've never seen strictly, dancing on ice, not watched Im a Celebrity for years, never watched the Kardashians, and of the reality programmes.
My 11 year old foster child into Pokemon and a particular genre of you tubers. I keep an eye on it to make sure its age appropriate but just tend to nod and smile every now again. I couldn't tell you any of their names.
I have 3 degrees, a professional qualification, well read, I'm not ignorant, it's just not important. One if my best friends loves the dancing shows, she just rolls her eyes at me when I profess my lack of knowledge, we have a laugh and move on.
She doesn't think any the less of me because I don't know anything about this stuff, I don't think any the less of her because she enjoys these programmes

Yes. I remember my grandmother watching Coronation Street and saying, ‘I don’t know who any of them are’.

But I am 40 and too young to be in this situation.

I often don’t even know who some of the people on Have I Got News for You are. It’s getting quite bad.

I know that OJ Simpson was the godfather of a Kardashian.

I have heard perhaps one of the names on the list. I don't feel like I'm missing out in the slightest. I wouldn't bother trying to gind out. Can't imagine it will improve ur life.

@Nobiggerthanyourhand

how does knowing that oj Simpson was the godfather of a Kardashian enhance your life
It's irrelevant

I don't know who any of them are either. And I don't care that I don't know.

Because OJ was friends with their dad, who was a lawyer, the lawyer who got him off the murder charge.

That's so infamous even I know. Dodgy bunch of crooks. But rich Hollywood elites. But these are mega famous not Strictly contestants.

It doesn't but knowing their wealth partly came from their lawyer dad getting OJ off the murder charge, in large opinion, preventing justice (can argue just doing his job), makes me like them a little less.

And if you have young minds in the house knowing what they are influenced by is important.

i found myself watching Celebrity dinner date
first one was chloe brockett, towie it turns out
and then James Lock, also Towie
my god, he was ridiculous
i dont know why i watched them except it was christmas holidays!
not much to find out about him on google!

it is alienating if you feel like everyone around you is tapping in to a rich seam of popular culture that you know nothing about and makes no sense when you try to get involved! I’m the same OP, I don’t know who anyone is or what a lot of people are talking about when they are chatting at work and its like trying to get a grasp of a soap opera when I’ve missed years of episodes.

I don’t seem to just absorb things by osmosis any more like I used to and I’m getting a bit worried that if I’m not careful I’ll be the equivalent of my 70 year old Nan that didn’t know how to use a cash machine and was terrified of the whole idea. I can’t successfully order a bubble tea and I don’t know what ramen are.

What can I do to understand this better? How do these people become so important?

They are not in the least important, but if you want to know more about them, they will all have their own websites.

its strange how those who appear on gogglebox become minor celebrities!

I have read this. Thank you for posting and he seems like a lovely man

Am left none-the-wiser, though. Maybe it’s the fame that is perplexing. Reality tv isn’t really something that I know about. I think I must have been born five years too early for it.

I have a friend who didn’t know who Carol Vorderman was. That used to fascinate me.

@Biscuitburglar

But do you want a bubble tea? It's a fad, will be over in a few years.
If you really want to know what ramen is just Google it.
I'm 59, I really haven't a clue about most popular culture because it's irrelevant to my life and just not important.
Occasionally something catches my eye and I get interested and I'll follow up.
I think the point about your nan and the cash machine is important because a certain level of IT literacy is essential in the modern world.
I am not remotely interested in gaming, the fact that you seem to need an app for everything winds me up but I will learn to use the things I need. The rest is just clutter

Do you need to know who they are?
I don't have to know who these people are but it helps to stay current, especially when talking to younger people. It's nice to be part of a conversation without feeling like a dinosaur because you don't know anything about popular culture.

I wouldn't worry about not knowing these people op, you don't need to and if you are functioning in your daily life without knowing it is having no impact on your life one bit.
I do find it strange that you read the daily mail and don't know them tho, if you read thr daily articles about them you should have some idea who they are.

Telling people to google is missing the point - yes, you can find out who these people are, but it's feeling disconnected with popular culture that's the 'problem'. Kids are growing up with tok tok and love island and so this knowledge is innate for them. It's a feeling of being left behind, maybe.

But largely these people are largely famous for being famous, for doing vacuous tv shows, rather than for having any particular talents. It's sad that this is what popular culture has become. You aren't really missing anything for not knowing what differentiates one ex love island contestant from another!

It's a bit Orwellian really - keep the proletariat distracted with inane shit and hopefully we won't focus on the real villains in our society.

They are creating a society of wannabes or are you not aware of Instagram?