Should we care about what celebrities say?

The abstract concept of celebrities has confounded and fascinated many of us as we’ve grown up. Some of us think about it more than others, regularly scrolling through celebrities’ Instagram accounts and consuming tabloid news with zeal. On the other hand, some of us ignore celebrities as much as society allows us, disenchanted by their self-appointed responsibility as the voice for the masses despite their immense privilege. Either way, these potent feelings often contribute to some sort of opinion towards celebrities in general, and the past few weeks were no exception.

In the wake of Meryl Streep’s Golden Globes speech heard around the world, in which she condemned President Donald Trump’s mockery of a disabled reporter and emphasized the need to protect the freedom of the press, it seemed as though everyone had an opinion on the matter. These opinions more or less split into two camps: support for Streep’s use of a highly publicized platform to make a political statement and frustration towards “liberal movie people” in general who mistakenly think the rest of the country cares about their political opinions.

This gaping divide drew my attention to the notion of celebrities in the social-media age, where fans have almost unlimited access to A-lister’s opinions and can also circulate their own opinions about Hollywood’s finest. What often results is a dichotomy of fascination and disgust, as our access to these previously obscured thoughts contributes to our eventual disillusion. The most obvious example would be the widespread obsession with the first family of American reality television, the Kardashians, which has evolved into a convoluted web of adoration, revulsion and absorption on all types of media platforms. Almost all coverage of this family falls into either the “love” or “love-to-hate” categories and can be extrapolated to apply to Hollywood in general.

So I suppose the real questions are: why do we care so much about what celebrities do, say and think? And should we even care in the first place? Starting with the first question, both traditional and social media platforms make celebrity news so omnipresent that it almost seems as if we’re being forced to care. Our Facebook news feeds are sprinkled with celebrity carpool karaoke videos, our Snapchat stories are bordered by pictures of “Kendall’s acne nightmare,” and our Twitter feeds are dominated by tweet wars between celebrities and eggs. Another simple explanation is the allure of escapism through the highs and lows of the rich and famous, but this isn’t truly nuanced enough to apply to an entire country.

Billy Eichner in truTV’s “Billy on the Street” is one of my favorite depictions of the divide between pop culture fanatics like myself and those who honestly couldn’t care less. Hilariously bombarding innocent passersby on the streets of New York City with questions like “It’s Spock! Do you care?” “Are you jealous of Beyoncé’s success?” and “Would you have sex with Paul Rudd?” it becomes increasingly apparent how few people actually care about celebrities, even when they’re standing right in front of them. These moments, though originally employed for comedic effect, illustrate how indifference toward celebrities is just as prevalent as the obsession espoused by mainstream media.

Like most things in life, your decision to value or ignore the actions and thoughts of Hollywood elites is simply a matter of personal preference, and you can’t make a judgment call on someone’s preference. It’s also well within your rights to circulate your opinions about actors, musicians and the generally famous, but remember one thing: whether you love them or love to hate them, you’re still talking about them.

Marisa Papenfuss is a UF English senior. Her column appears on Tuesdays.