pick up the phone and vote
What are we all going to do on Saturday nights now that X-Factor and Strictly have run their dubious course? The nation’s collective shock and swift regression into a depressive stupor is almost palpable. Even though the long, dramatic build-up to the crescendo crowning of these ‘stars’ started sometime during the end of the last war the removal of the extravaganza appears to hit many as powerfully as a close bereavement. Whilst I concede the water cooler will never be the same, does it leave you contemplating whether or not it’s just a bit of harmless fun or is it turning us into a nation of celebrity wannabes?
The good news is that studies suggest this isn’t the case and that the vast majority of us do not engage in the vacuous pastime of celebrity worship. In this instance, the ‘vast majority’ equates to 78%, leaving 22% (about 20% more than I would have hoped) unhinged to some degree.
Three kinds of celebrity obsession have apparently been identified: 15% have an ‘entertainment-social’ interest where we simply chat, discuss and swap opinions about Wagner and Widdecombe; a further 5% believe that have an ‘intense-personal’ relationship with the celebrity where delusional thoughts are the norm (hopefully Kara features here as opposed to Anton); leaving the remaining, and frankly deranged, 2% ‘borderline-pathological’ who would be willing to undertake the highly illegal to get up close and personal to their fantasy personality.
On the whole I’m quite buoyed by these figures as it’s only the latter group that need to seek either professional help or perhaps truly need to go out more and get a life. Celebrity worship seems to be more an effect of prior problems or current life-state, than a cause of them. But will this revelation knock those preening, self-absorbed, narcissistic celebrities off their golden pedestals? The same study analysed narcissism within celebrity and it has reported that the most narcissistic were the ones who had become famous via a reality TV show (exploitative and vain), next up were comedians (born sarcastic exhibitionists), followed by actors (superior) and musicians (aloof).
Interestingly, the level of attention-seeking grandiosity was not dependent upon how long they had been famous, which accounts for the reality stars wishing to live ‘in their moment’. People who achieve the extraordinary levels of public recognition tend to display narcissistic tendencies before ‘celebrity’ arrives and are merely active in their pursuit of more of the same. Me? I’ll admit that I’ve learned to play (badly) Cliffy Biro/Matt Cardle’s ‘Many of Horror’, haven’t shaved for a week and am hoping Santa will bring me a selection of painting & decorating hats for Christmas.
