A Theory of Celebrity

Having grown up in Los Angeles, I was a long-time observer of the celebrity phenomenon. I love my shows and I love my performers, and I'm fascinated by the whole shebang: the connection people feel with characters on screen, the courage of the people lending their bodies & emotions to the roles, the experience of same bodies & emotions when they go back to occupying their mortal identities... I find it fascinating, and incredibly complex - a complex context and set of experiences that is constantly oversimplified.

As a clinician, I know something about human relations, how we connect, why we connect, and the wide variety of issues and beliefs and neuroses that get in the way of our connecting.

One truth about connection is that it creates meaning: by listening to your spouse's description of their day, you make it valuable. You are valuing it, by listening, and we feel listeners valuing us as we share. And this gives us meaning. It's healing and emotionally satisfying. Even when you have no comment, even if you can't help with the conundrums, just listening is helping. Just listening is giving.

One night, I watched some particularly poignant movie or TV episode (can't remember what), and after the credits rolled, I felt compelled to get on the internet and look up its creators and stars and learn more about the production.

Now, this is unusual for me. At some point, it faded, my interest in celebrities' lives outside their work. I don't like DVD extras. I'm not usually interested in any behind-the-scenes glimpses. At some point, I let go of the warmth of the illusion of feeling in-the-know, probably because clinical training was offering me many more satisfying alternatives.

But that night, enjoying a post-excellent-entertainment glow, I felt like looking them up. And I realized it was because I had just received profound value from their work, and I wanted to give something back. Being interested in other people is a way of giving back.

So, I've come to a gentler view of the fascination with celebrity. Sure, sometimes it's projection and distraction and dysfunction, but sometimes, it's just a natural compulsion to give something back.

Being interested is an expression of gratitude. And since we can't just call them up and say, "Wow, thanks for that, it really touched me and fed me and helped me see things differently," we jump on IMDB or read People magazine. It's what we can do.