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?

Well, yes, but personally, I wouldn't put Kim Kardashian or Katie Price in the same category as Trump or Elvis etc.

Inverted snobbery is as bad as traditional snobbery.

Hmmm as usual a lot of ‘I don’t use social media’ or ‘xyz is never mentioned on my social media’……..on this social media site,,,,,,,mentioning XYZ.

Some people don’t watch or read the news and so are not exposed to massive stories like when Kim Kardashian was robbed, or the one-off stories prominently placed like the annual Met Gala. If you reach/watch/follow the news these are hard to avoid. You don’t necessarily read the article but you see the headline. But some people are extremely insular and don’t engage with any news I suppose. I’m glad not to be so incurious!

The bigger question is why people post to say ‘who?’. It’s really odd behaviour, and very unpleasant when somebody has died. I don’t always recognise every celebrity mentioned on here because I’m not in the UK. But certainly wouldn’t dream
of wasting my time, and everyone else’s, posting ‘who’ on a thread about someone I’ve never heard of. Very unusual behaviour.

I think it's worse I really do.

Yep, this. ^ Definitely an 'I am better than you' vibe about 'I have never heard of Kim Kardshian!' Of course you have. 😆

Ah maybe this instead of "who" i mean the kardashians are famous for not doing anything except being famous, and that does irritate people.

I agree with that. Typing 'who' s just pathetic, but that's not what the op (& others) have said she said...

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?

People do the same in threads when someone dies. You will always get someone who comments "Who?" instead of Googling or just scrolling on.

The same type of people who regularly flock onto the guardian TV section forum to say that ‘I don’t have a television’.

I could pick out all of them. I couldn't name a single Taylor Swift song or album. I suppose I probably have heard Taylor Swift played somewhere but I've never knowingly heard any of her songs.

I don't watch shows like Strictly or Traitors-articles about the celebrity versions appear in The Times and The Guardian with photos, most of whom I don't recognise. Just checked an article about the latest one Traitors - 9 photos appeared, I know who 4 of them are.

I can sometimes vaguely recognise a Kardashian, but I can't tell one from the other. It's nothing to do with pretending to be intelligent.

I've been accused on these boards of being deliberately obtuse for not recognising certain names and so on - I'm just not that au fait with popular culture these days.

So what you're saying is that the people you recognise are the people everyone should recognise?

We live in a very stratified culture with fewer mass media "must sees" that everyone shares.

Also, it's generational. I bet my mum couldn't pick Madonna out of a crowd but, to me, she is one of the most recognisable famous people. But then, I couldn't tell Dua Lipa from Charlie XCX.

Brilliant!

I'm 58. I wouldn't recognise ise Kim Kardashien in a line up. I'm not cool. I'm not particularly intelligent. I just don't follow celebrities. 8 did look at the pics of the Met outfits on my phone just now and some of them are Amazing! No idea about the people wearing them really. Apologies for typos, app playing up & I can't be bothered to retype.

I find it so stupid when people trying to sound cool comment "who?" On a post
They could have used that time to Google instead of looking like a dick

I've no interest in celebrities, there are probably a good few that I genuinely wouldn't know. But there really is no escaping the big ones unless you never use SM, watch TV or read newspapers. I do think the 'who?' comments about some celebs are a clear attempt to seem superior. It probably is an attempt to seem intelligent, no one's asking who David Attenborough is but I would argue that Kim Kardashian is a lot more famous.

A few years ago I mentioned to my husband that it had come up that my parents hadn’t heard of Kim Kardashian, so then I found out he hadn’t either! It’s definitely possible. These are not people with highbrow interests.

This!! So fucking what if you apparently don’t know them, Keith from Stockport?! No one cares 😂

It’s not to seem intelligent. It’s to seem a better class.

i genuinely have no idea who most celebrities are. I don't watch TV ever - it bores me. I don't read any news about celebrities as i think most are shallow arseholes.

There are all sorts of reasons why one might not know various celebs.

DH knows the names and bios of relatively obscure politicians, academics, lawyers. It's his field of interest and as a researcher you could never say he wasn't well informed in his subject. Does he know about actors, celebrities, tv personalities? Only from me or DC telling him. Also, he doesn't recognise people to the extent that I say hello to someone we pass in the street, he says 'who's that', I say 'our next door neighbour'. Would he recognise Jordan, no, would he have a rough idea who she is, yes. But only a sketchy one.

DS and I are much more clued up. In our town centre Sainsburys the mags and newspapers are where you go in. I always make time to scan the covers. Does this mean I know who everyone is, no. Do I think I have a sufficient overview, yes. I recognise Kim, but I'm not sure I could recite all the Kardashians K names. As for recognising faces, I'm the opposite of DH.

I've heard a lot about the Kardashians but wouldn't recognise any of them, genuinely. Katie Price I do know, but she probably appeared on British TV/newspapers in the days before the internet, when no one had any other sources of information.

I don't subscribe to streaming channels, don't read magazines or newspapers and have no interest in reality shows. I don't like films much so am very ignorant of current actors too. Where would I come across people like the Kardashians? It's got nothing to do with intelligence, just your areas of interest: if Kim Kardashian was a world-class crocheter or appeared on Gardener's World then she'd definitely be on my radar 🤣

I’m working class. I still don’t consume the kind of media that would give me the remotest familiarity with KK.

I think anyone who doesnt recognise or not have heard of any of these people must be going round entirely with their eyes and ears shut!Octavia 64 s intelligent and well read .She has heard of them.Unless you dont go online at all or never watch TV,pick up a paper .How can you not ?

I've heard of both. I would recognise David Attenborough if he were in a restaurant or similar. I wouldn't recognise Kim Kardashian.