From Brad and Jenn to Meghan and Harry — Why Do We Care About Celebrity Relationships?
Did you hear? JLo and Ben Affleck are back together!! Have you seen those pics of them smooching in that restaurant in Italy?
Whether you secretly (or not-so-secretly) care about celeb couples like this, there’s no denying that there’s something totally seriously engrossing about keeping up with the latest celebrity rumors. Here’s why we continue to be obsessed with celebrities and their relationships.
Distraction: A Coping Mechanism
If it’s not obvious, talking about celebrities as a hobby is a superb way to distract ourselves from the hardships of the world. And let’s face it — there’s a lot to be depressed, pissed off, and terrified about, from a raging pandemic to impending climate doom.
If I’m at a party and someone is inclined to make small talk, I’ll be a hell of a lot more excited to talk about who Olivia Rodrigo’s new beau is versus the latest happenings on Capitol Hill. In a dark and scary world, chatting about why The Bachelor picked the wrong Hannah on last night’s episode is my drop of shining joy.
It might sound like I’m being facetious, but I remember getting emotional watching E! A few years ago. (Don’t judge me.) In her closing remarks, the beautiful, shiny-haired talk show host of a gossip show made an emotional speech about leaving the show. She teared up talking about how she realized her job might seem silly to some, but she’ll never forget the countless fans who let her know how much the show meant to them after a hard day at work. That show, if you can believe it, brought laughter and a lift to so many people who really needed it.
Gossiping Puts Us On The Pedestal For Once
Are celebs’ lives really that entertaining, though? Probably not, but talking about Kim, Kanye, Gwen, Blake, and whoever else is in the news this week is an innocuous hobby that makes us feel a little bit better about ourselves.
While our individual net worth obviously come nowhere near measuring up to the celebs we dog on, there’s something gratifying about picking apart the lives of strangers whose lives we truly know very little of. Judging from afar might give us a boost of confidence in our life decisions. While the shoulda, woulda, couldas are so much easier from the observation box, we may realize that wealth and success doesn’t guarentee common sense, self love, or a moral compass. If nothing else, it proves the point that no one is exempt from heartbreak, failure, weight gain, and public shame.
While getting off on someone else’s troubles is just plan tacky and cruel, it’s unfortunately as much a part of our human and social condition as having poor choice in partners, being prone to addiction, and not knowing how to manage our money. And while schadenfreude, the pleasure of others misfortune, is ugly in which ever language it’s translated in, if the targets of our chitchat never hear our criticisms, what’s the problem? Kim K will never in a million years care about what my grandma says about her butt in a nail salon in Buckhead, Atlanta. Unless, grandma has a 7-figure social media following.
Shooting The Sh*t Bonds Us
While some high and mighty critics might proclaim that our obsession with celebrities reveals our low intelligence, I think otherwise. (I also believe the proclivity to hate on gossipers is riddled with misogyny, but that’s for another day.) Here’s a kicker — many psychologists believe gossip is actually good for us.
The truth is, our parents lied to us. They told us that gossip is harmful and for low-class citizens, but it’s actually the glue holding our society together. Ok — that might be a bit of a stretch and might say something not so fantastic about our parents and our society. But gossip can be an amazing, harmless tool to connect with others without revealing too much of ourselves. Talking about shared interests is an efficient way to break the ice with strangers and find common bonds! …And it’s also fun to guess which starlet Taylor Swift will end up dating next.
But like wine, chocolate and a store credit card — moderation is key. There’s a fine between chuckling over a Page Six and believing a. everything you read and hear, b. acting upon that (read Taxi Driver), and c. falling into the rabbit hole of it mattering more than your own life. If your playful, “Did you hear” turns into cancelling your friends because they are team Angie (yes, that’s still a thing), maybe a gossip detox is in order.
Gossiping Equals… A Better World?
Why else would our grandmas spend hours at the nail salon chatting it up with their besties? If you ask me, they’ve figured out the key to a great social life.
Call me crazy, but I think if we all spent a little less time trying to fight each other, and a little more time talking about the fact that Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles are breaking relationship mindset rules left and right the world might be a better place. Except, of course, you’re Olivia’s ex.
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