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 don’t think it’s to seem intelligent, it is to make the person they are talking about seem like a nobody.

The person commenting is after on a site showing celebrities. It’s easy avoid this if you want to.

How would you know that if you don't read about them?

Late 20’s here, know who Kim Kardashian is and know her sisters’ names but am always unsure which one is which, apart from Kim! Never seen an episode of KUwtK and don’t read celeb/showbiz mags. I don’t feel superior for this at all!

I mean they are real life

The fact you say that shows you know full well who they are. Because as i said if you didnt you wouldn't know if they were important or not. You could be making yourself look like a right idiot

No ones asking you to pick them up out or give you their life history or be even in the slightest bit interested in them. But people who post who? on articles on the met gala are only doing it to prove some snobby point.

These are very famous people and the majority of the population will know roughly who they are or be so disinterested in the world that they aren't going to be engaging in Met Gala threads

I read this and assumed it was someone I'd never heard of called Kim K. Didn't instantly think Kardashian. So stop judging people just because you know all the names and we don't.

I find the entire discourse so draining.

I have multiple degrees and can sit and appreciate the beauty in last night while not caring about who they are. Physical art is a dying medium and it should be celebrated. If some people had their way it would be replaced by AI.

What you are doing is inverted snobbery.

I've no interest in stuff like The Traitors, Strictly, Big Brother. I don't watch them. It's impossible to avoid all reporting about them but the vast majority of the celebrities are people I've never heard of, yet you're sneering at people who don't know. That's inverted snobbery

That's exactly what I meant though (and the OP - at least I thought so).
There's a difference between having heard of someone but not really knowing what they are famous for and commenting on an article about them with the one word of "who?".
Edit: actually I am not sure if I mean the same thing as the OP.
I am all confused.
🙂

So it’s just plain old snobbery?

Well the title question is "do people pretend not to know who people are...." and yes, I think they do pretend not to. Otherwise they would just google them rather than say "who".

I'm in my 60s; I know who Kim Kardashian is, but I wouldn't recognise her. I know who Katie Price is and probably would recognise her, although I haven't seen a pic of her for 20 years.

I do think that I'm more intelligent than people who are interested in reality TV and celebrity gossip

The world has gone insane. There are wars going on, the planet is burning up, the cost of living has gone through the roof and fascism is coming back, but it's all fine because some celebrity has had a new tattoo on her arse.

O tempora, O mores... 🙄

There is a difference between recognising a name and being able to pick them out of a lineup.

My parents wouldn't know who Kim Kardashian was either - but nor would they be reading articles about the Met Gala.

I haven't lived in the UK for some time and had to look up Kate Price. I have of course heard of the Kardashians but couldn't tell you much about them except that they are trashy American TV celebs, and one of them had surgery to give herself a hug fat bum, which is apparently regarded as "desirable" by many Americans.

I deliberately remain ignorant of most pop culture because it doesn't generally please or interest me, but does this mean I'm "more intelligent" than those plugged into that sort of thing? Not necessarily, but perhaps just a bit more culturally demanding.

It depends on your generation. I'm in my late 60s and I guess I grew up with David Attenborough.

I watched a programme about women lawyers on Disney Plus at one point - I was binging to make the most of the last month of my subscription (cheapskate that I am) and I didn't realise that one of the actresses actually was Kim Kardashian.

I admit to having a certain amount of face blindness but I've never managed to recognise her outside of that show - the name of which escapes me. I was actually surprised to find that she was an actress. I thought that she was only famous for being famous.

I've seen pictures of various Kardashians online and it seems to me that they've all had a great deal of surgery in an attempt to look the same or to have a similar look at least?

I do use social media to an extent. I stopped reading newspapers and magazines a while back. I've barely watched the news for the past 5 years following a significant bereavement, but I wouldn't have been able to point out individual Kardashians prior to that. I am aware that they've had some kind of reality tv show (possibly more than one).

Upthread, someone mentioned David Beckham. I'm aware of him because I did watch international football games at one point and he's closer in age to my generation.

I know who Taylor Swift is because I saw clips of her tours online and then watched her concert on Netflix.

We all have different layers of cultural knowledge depending on age, location and circumstance. I'd say that it's a mistake to assume that not recognising someone is to do with snobbery.

I'd recognise a photograph of Jimmy Shand. I doubt very much that an English person below the age of 40 would.

I do recall making the mistake of a 'Who?' comment on here about someone whose name I can't recall and being absolutely lambasted. It genuinely wasn't meant to be snotty and I've since learned to Google if I'm interested in finding out.

I hear friends and colleagues speaking about them and the various TV programs they all do.

There seems to be an assumption with some on here that everyone is interested in celebrities across the board. I'm not especially. I do take passing note of people who frequently pop up in feed but I don't see it in any way as essential

I know the names and I'm pretty sure I would recognise a picture of Kim Kardashian as she has a very distinctive look. I probably wouldn't recognise a random picture of Katie Price out of context. Keep in mind too that some people really don't have good recognition of faces and/or names and save what effort they do give for people important in their own lives, like trying to keep their colleagues' names straight. If you show someone like that a celeb pic they may be saying they don't know the person because they look familiar but they're not 100% sure and don't want to be wrong/embarrass themself.

When someone does this about someone unquestionably and ubiquitously famous - say, King Charles or Donald Trump - it's more likely intended as a joke/sarcasm, a way to indicate that that person isn't important or is routinely given far too much public attention and isn't worth talking about, rather than that the speaker really doesn't know who they are. I've definitely heard people do this re Kim K.

And your friends all go around saying they are shallow arseholes?

Yes it's snobbery. I genuinely have no interest in these shows or Kim Kardashian or Taylor Swift or Adele or Hamilton or musicals and the assumptions that are often made that it's snobbery not to like them are really irritating.

There are a lot of people I have heard of, but couldn't pick out of a line up. I don't think it is anything to do with my intelligence. More a lack of interest in reality TV and most social media platforms. I wouldn't be commenting 'Who?' on posts though, as I would have no interest in reading them in the first place.

Having said that, my DS was watching something on YouTube the other week and I couldn't believe that KSI didn't know who Dolly Parton is.

People are not “disinterested in the world” because they don’t know who Kim K is. Not having the same interests as you doesn’t make them ignorant.

I'm probably know 5 people over all the people that when to that Gala, there is always new celebrities and I m to old to knew the new ones. I stick with the ones my age or older.

But if (for example) you were watching live footage of the Met Gala and your parents were there with you would they say things like "Oooh who is that? What are they famous for?" if they found someone's outfit interesting.
That is a big difference between just typing "Who?" on the comments page of the Daily Mail.

Yes quite a few of them do