![]() We proceed to the next trending topic sooner than we can form feelings for what we’re seeing. “When that happens, we don’t want to acknowledge that when a celebrity suffers, it’s also a human suffering.”Įven the phenomenon of doomscrolling – browsing content with indifference even through tons of bad news – can be understood in this context. “Because we are all competing with each other this way, we end up sacrificing empathy, focusing purely on the entertainment value of a situation,” Syeda said. “If someone behaves this way in real life, we might simply say ‘Don’t be a Kanye.’ This would essentially mean we’re no longer allowed to have a human moment.” Syeda also believes that we might end up reducing the whole situation to a joke. I keep hearing people joke that his therapist needs to be fired and such.” “In the past, has been clinically diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and I’m afraid that these posts end up painting a distorted portrayal of it. Nicholas Nhalungo, a 23-year-old writer and West fan from the city of Maputo in Mozambique, is apprehensive that our obsession and amusement with such meltdowns might end up trivialising mental health too. “But during such celebrity meltdowns, we often lose sight of the fact that it’s a person who is hurting and probably hurting others around him too,” said Misra. Misra added that even West’s choice of doing it all on Instagram, a move that’d be “usually considered tacky by PR reps,” is refreshingly unique. And now, to see the entire system that is so protected and careful being outed on Instagram so recklessly, is funny to me.” “Usually, celebrities would do sit-down, tell-all interviews for a big reveal. “But voyeurism also means that we’ve lost empathy.”Ĭulture commentator Santu Misra compares the public perception of celebrities to that of a perfectly manicured garden. ![]() “When we see them fall from grace, they become instantly relatable,” said Syeda. But this voyeuristic urge, she believes, ties into celebrities becoming relatable to us. Voyeurism, she added, has become a socially acceptable activity. “So, in West’s case, some of his diehard fans might also derive sadistic pleasure from seeing Kardashian suffer,” Syeda said. Syeda said that in certain cases, our obsession with the success and failure of the celebrities we idolise may take on a darker hue when we identify an antagonistic figure in their lives that’s causing them pain. Often caused by repeated exposure to the celebrity of their choice, viewers can end up having an illusory relationship with whom they stan, experiencing mood swings when their celebrity falters or euphoria when they achieve great heights. In parasocial relationships, listeners and viewers end up developing a one-sided relationship with celebrities whom, in all likelihood, they’ve never met and never will. Psychologically speaking, this fosters a feeling of friendship with such celebrities, and is technically referred to as a parasocial interaction.” “It seems that celebrities are omnipresent in our lives. “Back in the day, the inner lives of kings and queens appealed to us,” she told VICE. When Amy Winehouse battled manic depression and drug addiction, a British tabloid even put out a picture of her snorting coke on their front page we obsessively followed Britney Spears’ story of shaving her head and ending up in psychiatric care we shook our heads when our childhood favourite star, Lindsay Lohan, had legal troubles and difficulties with alcohol and drugs.Īccording to Ruksheda Syeda, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience, our fascination with famous people’s erratic behaviours and public meltdowns is age-old. We have always been amused, entertained or at least hooked to stories of celebrities “falling from grace”. As an ardent fan of his music since forever now, I say the brand that is Kanye West can’t be swept under the rug.īut what explains our collective obsession with celebrities going into meltdown mode? Why do we love watching celebrities reveal their claws, getting vulnerable for reasons known probably only to them? Nearly every second person you knew was either sharing his posts or talking about them. West’s nearly 14 million Instagram followers have been thoroughly amused, heartbroken, and puzzled at the same time.
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