Do people pretend not to know who people are in order to seem intelligent?

[coulditbeme2323]

Do people pretend not to know who people are in order to seem intelligent?

This question is prompted from reading comments online re The Met Gala?

Now let me prefix this by saying I have no interest in reality tv, Showbiz mags, etc - but surely there are some people who you know who they are because everybody does!

There were people saying "who" on a photo of Kim Kardashian. I have never seen an episode of the show, have no interest in her, but of course I know who she is - because how can you not?

Another British example is Jordan/Kate Price. No interest in her, but she has literally been headline news in The UK for 20 years. If you live in The UK - surely its impossible to not at least know who she is?

I dont see how not knowing who some random celeb is makes you morally superior though? Surely if that was your goal there are more effective ways to show it or brag about it? this seems way too subtle to be a high horse brag to me.

Eg People at work go on about the people on love island - I have never seen a single episode so have no idea who they are. It's not because I think I am morally superior to them, I just have zero interest in the programme so havent watched it.

I know people who dont even own televisions and dont read celeb magazines so maybe they genuinely havent seen these people

Yeah but you know who she is, as in you’ve heard of her. At a party if someone brought her up would you say “who?” If you would it’s an obvious attempt to look superior and intelligent because you know who the person is talking about. And I bet you could pick her out amongst other celebs. Her face has been everywhere, you don’t have to have watched The Kardashian’s, or be an avid celeb gossip reader to know what her face looks like.

There’s a massive difference between not knowing who a less than Z list “celebrity” from Love Island is and not knowing who one of the most famous people on the planet is

This.

I know who KK is but honestly?- she's famous for a sex tape, her TV programme and being married to Kanye.

It's not like she's the prime minister of a country who is always in the news. I dont think it's that outrageous that you might have missed her in the media. Or, you may have seen her on tv and not taken any notice of who she is. Many, many people are completely uninterested in celebrities so even if theyve seen her in the media, their eyes would have glazed over and they wouldnt have paid any attention.

I feel that way about tennis for example, whenever I see or hear tennis on TV I kind of zone out - I couldn't name a single current tennis player as I find it really boring and dull 🤷‍♀️

Id say id recognise them as someone famous but maybe not know their name. I don't watch much TV, and what i do is more crime drama, never celeb related, and I don't read magazines or newspapers. Im not even sure of the real names of the people in my current show, but would be more "oh that's the woman from handmaids tale"

Id definitely know Katie price but probably wouldn't recognise Kim K as herself unless she was with her family.

Was standing beside a somewhat famous boxer in an airport and only knew he was famous (maybe UK famous?) because people started asking for photos with him. Can't even remember his name now 😁

I know the name kim kashadigan but I could but pull her out of a line up tbh. Katie price i could because she was famous when I was a teenager. Im not interested in this sort of stuff but I wouldn't say it makes me look intelligent

I’ve heard of the Kardashians but I genuinely wouldn’t be able to recognise them!

😂
Well, quite!

Could it be that so many celebrities favour a clone-like style these days - thick, slobbery lips, thick eyebrows, a perma-tan, Turkey teeth and often, hair pulled back tightly into a pony tail, or cascading waves/extensions?

I'd lost touch with the celeb world for a few years (don't get TV or gossip mags) and had to look very hard at Amanda Holden, who looked nothing like I remembered from 15 years ago. And as for Carole Vorderman - what has got into the woman???

Many have changed their looks dramatically over the last decade or so and have tended to adopt a very generic appearance.

Could it be that so many celebrities favour a clone-like style these days - thick, slobbery lips, thick eyebrows, a perma-tan, Turkey teeth and often, hair pulled back tightly into a pony tail, or cascading waves/extensions?

Yes, this is so true- KK, her sisters, Megan fox, Katie Price, and many many other celebs are all looking like clones now with the same cosmetic surgery facial features so its not exactly shocking that people might not recognise them. There is a certain look that loads of D list celebs are adopting that makes them all look the same. And yes, I would class KK as a D list celeb because as far as I can see she, has zero apparent talent at anything

You see, this is the bit I struggle with. When someone says so-and-so's face has been "everywhere" what do they actually mean? Media and culture is fragmented - there is no mainstream anymore. If you don't read gossip magazines, or watch "I'm a celebrity" type programmes, it's perfectly possible to have simply never come across an image of these people.

I genuinely don't

I haven't had a TV since the analogue switch off and I don't read the Daily Mail or any of the gossip mags. I have heard of Kim K but I probably wouldn't recognise her if she walked past me.

Unless they pass through my social media I am really non the wiser. They generally don't though as my friends are as disinterested in the sleb/influencers as I am.

Remember, OP, that some people (me for one) really hate 'celebrity culture' and avoid the sort of people you're talking about quite deliberately.

I find the whole celebration of dim nobodies who, as far as I can see, are just famous for being famous, really depressing. I stopped reading the Radio Times years ago because, instead of being full of interesting in-depth articles about TV programmes and radio broadcasts it became largely just another celebrity mag.

So it's not always people pretending they don't know who KK is - some people actively avoid knowing and have a better quality of life for it!

Yes, I know who she is because I asked my daughter (who also rolled her eyes at the vacuousness of KK despite being 30 years younger than me ) but I'm still waiting to hear why she's so famous and why people take an interest in her. I think my daughter's words were: 'Oh, Mum - she's a stupid woman who's had implants in her arse and now she's famous for it'. She then showed me a photo of the back view of KK sitting on a log in which her backside remained solidly rounded in a very unnatural way.

Wow. Some achievement!

You seem very judgmental.

You made a whole post judging people for not knowing who the same people are as you do, and calling them fake...

Tell me more....

I think we're all judgemental. You have judged me for being judgemental!

I have no problem with people being judgemental, personally.

@coulditbeme2323

Maybe the truth hurts?

How can you know it's the truth if you don't know these people?

I agree but I remember a thread on here a few years ago about a teenager not knowing that Freddie Mercury was dead and everyone saying how on earth could you not know that - even a teenager was supposed to know that, apparently.

Although you could say she's changed an entire culture. Back in the day the desired answer to "does my bum look big in this" was always no.

Since KK, everyone wants a massive bottom and either gets implants or works out a million times a week to "grow their glutes" (I am not sure you can actually do the latter, you an strengthen them, sure).

Hip hop culture and JLO started the trend for larger bums way before KK although she did use it in her favour

We were at a company get together and Jason Derulo (sp?) and entourage were at the table next to us. When they left a spokesperson came over to us to say thanks for not asking for selfies or autographs, and for not filming them. My boss was totally astonished as he genuinely had no idea who was at the next table.

That's the sort of thing that happened to me as a young woman because I didn't watch TV, was short sighted and didn't know anyone.

On billboards, the side of buses, bus stops, adverts on tv, front covers of magazines you might walk past in a shop

Talking to DH (who is slightly older than myself), he says that he remembers TV shows (eg 'Coupling' from 2000-2004) where having a larger bum was very definitely a bad thing.

If a woman asked "Does my bum look big in this dress?" This was not a situation where she hoped to hear the word "Yes!". At least in the UK.

Having a "big bum" was not a good thing back then. My DH was born in the mid 1960s and for a man of his generation that really was not a thing back then.

I think that really comes from US culture and, specifically, US black culture (DH has close family who live in the US and we both have quite a few friends living in the US).

"Hip hop culture and JLO started the trend for larger bums"

Even in the US, I would suggest that there are many people who are not influenced at all by "Hip hop culture".