If you’ve ever scrolled through Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok, or any other social media platform, you have likely been subjected to the clickbait videos about the latest celebrity controversies or seen comments on pictures/posts that debate and argue over celebrities; their decisions, looks, relationships, weight, etc.  

Sometimes the reporting on celebrities and their lives is interesting and keeps people in the loop about what’s going on with their favorite famous icons, but most of the time the information spread around on the internet is prodding and negative, taking the smallest things celebrities do and making it into something it’s not. It’s especially disheartening to see the amount of talk surrounding celebrities and their looks, it feels like every day I see some story reporting about a famous person’s weight or recent plastic surgery, every detail of their appearance being scrutinized by the public and being judged. An example I recently stumbled upon were posts concerning Sam Smith and their “weight” and artistic choices during performances. Some comments were positive and supportive, and others were just plain nasty, regardless of the comments made… Why are people even making these posts in the first place and why do others care so much about something that doesn’t matter/ isn’t anyone’s business? 

It seems that our society treats celebrities like dolls, serving mainly for the purpose of our entertainment. Many think that because someone is famous or influential, they are deserving of people’s criticism and scrutiny; and while it is true being in the public-eye requires a certain degree of accountability and expectance that privacy will be infringed, that doesn’t mean we should slam a person just because we are behind a screen and they have influence and significant social-standing in the world. A prevalent example that comes to mind is Justin Bieber and his rise to fame, he came into the limelight at an incredibly young age and made some dumb decisions like any teenager would. Due to him being in this celebrity spotlight, his actions were dramatically publicized, and people slammed him for making mistakes that if anyone else committed at his age would have been shrugged off. These incidents caused lots of mental hardship for the young star and stand as something that will influence and stick with him for the rest of his life.  

The public must begin to understand that celebrities have lives just like anyone else, and though it is vastly different than ours and they have a position in the world that gives them more privilege than others, that doesn’t give people the right to constantly be vindictive and downright mean about their private affairs, choices, and things that they can’t even control. We idolize these celebrities and try to discern every little thing they do, that people lose their perception of humanity within these idols and begin to view them as objects rather than people, leaving no regard for their feelings or experiences; a complete lack of empathy. Analyzing their relationships and life choices isn’t something we need to do and obsess over, they’re not characters on a TV show, they are people who have their own private ambitions and interests that don’t need to be overly speculated upon. 

It is important that rather than looking at these celebrities as objects due to their acclaim, we look at their rise to fame and accomplishments with understanding and use their experiences to better understand them as people and use these things to better ourselves. The next time you see a post regarding a celebrity controversy or something criticizing a celebrity’s choices or appearance, consider the intentions of the people spreading the negative information and try to understand the complexities of media filtering and the effect it has on people and their perceptions of others.