Why can't we do without spying on celebrities?

When I was a teenager, there were a couple of Italian indie rock singers about whom I knew everything: not only their complete discography, musical influences, or favorite guitar, but also their second name, parents, current girlfriend, address, and every quirky detail you can think of. And social media didn't even exist back then. So, I had to unleash all my investigative skills, much like Ilary trying to catch Totti in a scandal. My apparent knowledge and familiarity with their lives were total. It made me feel good and helped me add realistic details to innocent teenage fantasies where we were friends or maybe something more. Like doing research for a screenplay that only plays in your head. Yet, I never dreamt of approaching them as if we knew each other in real life. Partly because I was hyper-introverted, but mainly out of modesty, out of respect for someone I loved in the broadest sense of the term, and mostly because I was well aware that the sense of intimacy I felt was the result of a one-sided relationship. An illusion in which it was sweet to indulge between a Greek version and an outing with friends. But if I had grown up with Instagram and TikTok, would it have been the same? Or would I have been unable to distinguish the boundary, confusing that fictional closeness with limitless obsession?

The Celebrity Cult in 2024

From Rodolfo Valentino to Elvis, from Take That to Harry Styles, celebrities have always existed, as well as the cult directed towards them. What has changed is the constant access to gossip and news about famous personalities. If, in the past, such information was rare and filtered by agents and PR, in 2024, more and more often, celebrities themselves provide details through selfies, medical photo dumps, announcements of breakups, new loves, and births. They make jokes and ironic comments under the social profiles of other stars, publish reviews of movies they've seen or books they've read, write long newsletters keeping fans updated on their favorite restaurants or the recipe for the perfect vanilla ice cream with olive oil and fleur de sel. The result? The illusion of proximity is almost total, to the point of taking some disturbing turns in certain cases.

The Stans aka When Fans Become Obsessive

One doesn't need to invoke the "celebrity worship syndrome" or the "obsessive-compulsive disorder" to get an idea of the possible dangerous sides of love for a famous person. Just take a stroll on Twitter or another social platform and get to know the Stans. They are called that as a combination of stalker and fan, but above all, about Eminem's 2000 hit that described the violent obsession of a fan for the rapper. In the subsequent decades, the term has become a generic one to indicate people who live their entire online existence around a specific fandom: Taylor Swift's Swifties, BTS's Army, Lady Gaga's Little Monsters, Beyoncé's Bey Hive, Nicki Minaj's Barbs, Harry Styles's Styler, and so on. They are an extreme community, capable of pushing their idol's project to the top of the charts, but also fiercely defending them from criticism to the point of threatening and persecuting anyone who expresses a negative judgment or somehow challenges the object of their worship. On the one hand, they can be useful to cement fame and support their beloved star, but on the other hand, they can give rise to toxic and dangerous behaviors, such as insulting the new flame they deem inadequate or invading the privacy and personal boundaries of their idols with inappropriate messages, but also with actual stalking and thoughtless actions.

The Cases of Timothée, Taylor, Billie, Rosalía, Ayo, Ariana, and Paul

Nowadays, the public feels entitled to intervene in the careers and lives of their favorite celebrities. Fans turn into agents, public relations teams, therapists, confidants, friends, a family that arrogates the right to judge, direct, manifest, and impose decisions, people, and even punishments, convinced that they know what's best for their idol. Think about the relationship between Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner. How many, even non-devoted fans, wrinkled their noses, thinking that the founder of Kylie Cosmetics was not worthy or right for the actor? And what about the constant and morbid curiosity about the sexuality of Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish? Even Rosalía is followed by Stans for her relationships with Jeremy Allen White and Hunter Schafer. The two can't even have a smoothie together without numerous conspiracy theories about whether they are more than friends multiplying, and Rosalía's song Tuya supposedly being about a love story with Schafer before the singer was dating Rauw Alejandro. Not to mention all the people disappointed by the liaison between Ariana Grande and Wicked: Part One co-star Ethan Slater. The latest to suffer the intrusion of their fans are Ayo Edebiri and Paul Mescal. The star of The Bear was targeted for an ironic comment made on Letterboxd, to the extent that he had to make his profile private; while the Irish actor saw his privacy invaded by people posting secretly recorded videos of him in a pub and peeking over his shoulder to expose his private messages, similar to people exposing cheaters on TikTok.

Why Are We Fascinated by Celebrities?

In some cases, people may be attracted to celebrities to suppress chronic feelings of inadequacy or emotional discomfort. Others do it to satisfy the normal human need for social connections. Perhaps because there is an objective difficulty in creating friendships and relationships offline, in real life, and the fact that celebrities seem "down to earth" like us adds to the confusion. Someone calls it the "She's my Princess Diana" phenomenon, alluding to the late Princess of Wales. An "Internet Princess Diana" refers to someone who has experienced a relatively rapid increase in popularity and has, even by chance, positioned themselves for their recognizability and online presence. They are often not super famous artists, but for some reason, they are famous at a particular moment, and their charm, talent, and seemingly "down to earth" approach make them beloved and followed. Relatable celebrities are just a myth. It's okay to support and feel a kind of affection for our favorite star, but some boundaries should not be crossed. And exercising respect for the limit also involves learning not to be intrusive with friends, family, colleagues, and all the people in real life.