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?

Is it a sardonic “who?” to indicate the celeb is no longer relevant?

I’ve heard of Katie Price and KK, but honestly if saw pictures of them I wouldn’t recognise them.

I don't 'walk around with my eyes closed' but there's not much in the way of celebrity stuff in the woods, or in our village, or where I was working.

i don't use any SM or watch Reality TV.

I could pick out David Beckham, but none of the 'current' equivalents.

maybe it's partly my age (57) I could name some older celebrities, but nott knowing the current ones is not some kind of moral failing.

i don't care who's fucking who, what perfume or clothes they're promoting or what daft names they're calling their kids.

my eyes are open, they're just looking at things that interest me!

I've heard of Kim K but would not recognise her. I've got a PhD and I don't mind looking silly.

Of course, but there are just some people that surely most people would know?

If you don't like US politics you should still know who Trump is, if you don't like football I would expect most people to know Beckham, if you don't like music I would still expect you to know Elvis!

That’s fine though because Kate Moss hasn’t really been a big deal for 20 years! I’m not baffled by my students not knowing who someone like that is, nor am I by much older people not knowing who Kim K is. I think anyone in the middle of certain age brackets will at least have heard the names.

The Traitors is great because I always know who most of them are! I think I didn’t know who two or three were last year and it’s similar this year. I don’t watch YouTube so I don’t know YouTubers and I don’t use TikTok so don’t know those faces either. Strictly, on the other hand… I didn’t even watch it last year because I didn’t know a single contestant!

I do know who the people are that you quoted (although I can't tell the Kardashians apart!), but there are many people that I don't know who they are! I'm thinking influencers, youtubers, most of todays music performers etc. I don't follow anyone online or have any social media other than an old FB account. I never listen to the radio or much music at all. No DC in the house that would do those things. So, in a few more years, I'll probably not know a lot of well known people.

It's nothing to do with intelligence, or wanting to look intelligent, I'm just not interested.

I know of them but don't think I'll know of future celebrities. Don't watch TV, don't go on gossip sites etc. Maybe they're just older?

I have heard of Kim K and Katie Price, but I’m not sure if I’d recognise them. DH genuinely wouldn’t even have heard of them.

Are they part of real life issues then?

I couldn’t pick Kim K out of a line up. I rarely watch tv. I glance through the headlines most days but don’t read every single news article. It’s to do with time and level of interest.

Lots of people don’t consume much media 🤷‍♀️

edited to remove duplicate sentence

But perhaps there’s a difference between knowing who someone is and recognising their face. There are plenty of people I’ve heard of but I still wouldn’t know them if they jumped out of my soup.

I can know the name of someone by having read about them, but have no idea what they look like and little idea what they do.
I read the BBC article about the Gala, and looked at the outfits. I wouldn’t have recognised anyone except Nicole Kidman, but I did recognise a lot of names. I don’t think any of the men listed were familiar names to me though. Madonna was unrecognisable.

All of them,

and I am very highbrow and intelligent.

i have a degree from Cambridge and watch Ancient Greek tragedies in their original language

https://www.classics.cam.ac.uk/prospective/undergraduate/greek-play

No, she's not. That I would understand.

shes saying this, which is different...

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?

It's absolutely a display of (misplaced) superiority. There is no other reason that you wouldn't just google the name of someone you hadn't heard of - on a post about celebs - rather than typing "who?".

It's sad that they need to get validation like that.

My (older) parents wouldn't know of Kim K or Katie Price. Neither would my (young adult) children. I think they are of an era which is too young for the first group and too old for the second.

Most have had so much surgery done i dont know who they are.
I may know the names but not the faces.

I didnt know who Kelly Osborne was the other day when I saw her online, she looks awful, skinny jabs and filler and good nos what has aged her beyond her years.

Katie price is another one.
There's loads more.

🤣🤣🤣

Who...? And what's Traitors? 😝

The first three. Obviously, I know of Taylor Swift but I don't think I could pick her out of a line up. I'm a bit face blind though.

Hmmm yeah, there is an sniff of wanting to seem more intelligent. It's to make out they're better, more edgy, more cool, and more well educated, because why on earth would anyone with a Red Brick University degree living in a naice area in a naice house watch such peasanty drivel?! 😱

Yep that's it! 😆

Some people really do not know who she would be. My other half wouldn’t. He is not remotely interested in celebrity anything.

Some responses on the thread as in ‘who’ will be sarcastic.

Some will be real. They have no clue who she is.

It’s code for “I’m angry that this person is rich and famous”.

😂

It’s quite easy to avoid Kim K if you don’t watch that stuff. I’m more likely to see her referred to on here.