Celebrity obsession.....I just don't get it....It's ridiculous IMO

[PinkHollyhocks]

News full of Taylor Swift's wedding. I mean who, other than her friends and family, should actually care. The sycophantic fawning is nauseating. What skills do these "celebrities" actually have to warrant such obsession? Are they finding a cure for diseases or working to end poverty/hunger/war? Nope. Screwed up world.

I live very near Jane Mcdonald ( no way near as famous as Taylor Swift).. the amount of people just coming to stand outside her house.. or to visit the City to have a photo taken with her plaque... they visit the home she grew up in and even the schools she went to. .. l mean l love going to concerts.. but l have not been obsessed with anyone scince l was 14 and in love with Donny Osmond.

It’s because you are better than everyone else.

Tbf, Jane MacDonald is worthy of such adulation 👑😄

But I do agree with you, OP. I’ve never quite understood the fuss over Taylor Swift, or any other celebrity for that matter. I mean, yeah sure TS is talented etc but people’s weird obsession with her is bonkers.

I am not obsessed with Taylor Swift - I have never bought one of her records or been to one of her shows.

But she seems like a lovely lass, her chap is a good guy and the pair of them are a huge power couple, both famous in their own rights. People are interested and that doesn't make it "ridiculous".

Ah, takes me back to The Beatles, Cliff Richard and The Shadows I cried if we didn't get home in time for the tv.

People have always loved celebs, it's just that they're so much more accessible than they used to be.

I don’t have any of her music but really appreciate her as a talented musician.

Music makes me happy.

She's very talented, she has lots of fans in the UK, a wedding of such a power couple in a major city is news. That is all.

I like Taylor swift like a pp i am not a huge fan but she is one of the world's biggest personalities her business empire is huge her husband seems a nice guy and big in his own field.good for them
I would rather see her lavish wedding being reported from the US to whatever drivel comes out of Trumps mouth on July 4th!

And being interested in "celebrity" is a distraction isn't it ? Not everything has to be profound and serious,

She's an artist. It may not be the kind of art you enjoy but millions of people do and she gives something really positive to their lives. Enriches them.

She's not my cup of tea but I hate the snobbery around people being fans of something.

And it is snobbery because usually those same people would wax lyrical about a painting, a piece of literature, an aria or a concert pianist or whatever other art they enjoy.

I don’t personally like Taylor Swift, I don’t get the hype about her music or her performing, I think she is just bland, however I know millions of people do like/love her she is extremely popular and very famous so of course there will be interest in her wedding.

I read somewhere that chimps and other primates have ‘celebrities’ - high status individuals- and some will actually choose pictures of these individuals over food. It is part of being a highly social animal apparently.
I quite like a gawp at celebrity wedding pictures so I can critique their outfits.

Well I would rather hear about Taylor’s wedding than endless drivel about the football.
Im another one who enjoys looking at the clothes, although the wedding guests I have seen so far look terrible. Clearly money doesn’t buy you style.

You sound insufferable

I’m not really into celebrity culture, or TS to any obsessive level and I didn’t care about her wedding - but I find the spectacle interesting. Same as a royal wedding or the met gala, I’m vaguely interested in the coverage and what a billionaire does for their wedding and how they approach the whole thing so I checked in on the coverage yesterday.

Similar to how I’ve vaguely checked in on the World Cup scores. They’re cultural moments it’s socially helpful to be broadly aware of what’s happening

I agree Fairy I mean you could argue that sports is vacuous as well as lots of other things. At least TS had a talent, its not like when ppl obsess over some reality TV person or something (I'm not a fan but she has a skill/talent clearly).

The cult of celebrity doesn’t really do us any favours. It means that some people end up being obscenely wealthy in a way that is out of proportion to the actual work that they do. I do appreciate people who have talent in music, sport, theatre etc. But I don’t think their work is worth many millions more than the work of ordinary people.

I also don’t see very many celebrities setting a good example with regards to living sustainably (because it’s not really possible to go on a world tour in a sustainable way!) and that’s disappointing because they are role models and we all really really need to be trying to live more sustainably in my opinion.

As for the wedding- people (mostly women) have always been interested in weddings; especially celebrity weddings.

Taylor Swift seems like a nice person and has some genuine talent. But her lifestyle is not admirable to me because I think it’s probably not very good for the planet on the whole. I also don’t think she is worth more than a nurse or a bin collector. It’s disappointing that the idea that there are VIPs is still alive and kicking. We’re all just humans with the same inherent worth.

I would rather see more attention on people who are quietly getting on with things that benefit the greater good. Charity workers, foster carers, that sort of thing.

I’m a proud swiftonian, a description I like of us older fans . My DD is a superfan and it just helps me stay connected to her now she’s older and no longer at home - it reminds me of her so much and over the years I’ve become a fan myself - however - I find this fawning over her wedding details too much - the parasocial side of this seems like a monumental waste of time - we can be happy for her and enjoy her music without spending all this time ruminating about her wedding

Seems to me that there are two sorts of 'celebrity'.

Those who have become famous through their outstanding achievement in their field. Sporting prowess, the arts, drama, music, politics, science and so on, who are well know purely because they have genuinely done something noteworthy and have become a household name because of it. Their fame arrived because of their success in doing whatever it is they do.

Then there's the other sort. The Slebs. People who are only 'celebrities' because they married someone famous, are some sort of influencer, been on reality tv, you know what I mean. The Famous for being Famous ones, who have actively sought out fame, and have pursued that career/lifestyle path because their ambition is to be a celebrity.

To my mind, Taylor Swift fits into the first category.

People have always had people they look up to/admire. It's not new.
It's a mix of curiosity, imagination about their life, wanting to be like them or live a similar life.
I'm not sure how far back in history we could go but Cleopatra was fairly popular in her day.

🤣

Is that what older fans are called ? sounds very grand 😀

Exactly my point...but much better put by yourself 😜

Sounds a bit mental to me.