Lot's Wife Edition 1 2016

CULTURE
Undying:
Parasocial relationships and the
nature of celebrity
by Tracy Chen
Alan Rickman. David Bowie. Maybe you’ve
heard of them? René Angélil, Natalie Cole,
Glenn Frey are a few more, though perhaps they’re
less familiar to you. They are individuals who have
been elevated to household name status for their
achievements, successes or sheer shock value;
they’re revered for their talents but nonetheless
they’re virtual strangers to us. So why do we care
when they die?
The number of us who have had personal
contact with celebrities are small, but many of us
feel saddened by their deaths, even years after. We
have developed a sort of intimacy without really
knowing them, watching them in our living rooms
and bedrooms, making us laugh and cry. You’ve
undoubtedly felt that connection, that feeling of ‘I
really like this person’.
It’s a mimicry of a relationship, a parasocial
relationship that’s totally one-sided, developed
from repeated exposure to their celebrity persona.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, these media
personalities have no idea of who you are. But you
feel like you know and understand them. Through
countless hours of watching interviews and trawling
through social media, they become important to you.
You become a fanatic, or less severely, a fan.
These relationships can be used as support
structures when none are available in real life.
Celebrities are undoubtedly inspirational. They
are living proof that the ordinary can become
extraordinary, and that by overcoming struggles and
hardships, perhaps we too can achieve fame and
fortune. They embody a certain idea of greatness
and they are immortalised. Yet even the illusion of
the celebrity becomes mortal when faced with death.
We never thought that celebrities like Alan
Rickman and David Bowie would die, so rare in their
skills and accomplishments. We feel a profound
loss, for despite their cultural legacy, they will never
again be able to create something to inspire and
impact our lives so viscerally. In an era where the
sheer quantity and impermanence of the famous
devalues them, and the title of celebrity is more like
a revolving door, celebrities from days of old seem
few and far between.
Nonetheless, the past is often romanticised
and seen through rose tinted lenses, especially
posthumously. It is of course unkind to speak ill of
the dead, but death has a tendency to wipe clean
the slate and cleanse one of their wrongdoings.
We want to remember those who have passed for
their good qualities. With celebrity figures, whose
achievements are so public and so widespread, it is
unsurprising that despite scandals or indiscretions,
people who we may have subjected to many caveats
and criticisms are now once again at their greatest.
They are only remembered at the pinnacle of their
success.
Lot’s Wife | 51