Is our obsession with celebrities the worst it’s ever been?

Why is it that Ye fans will pay $800 for front row at a Vultures Listening Party, Swifties will drive every one of Taylor Swift’s new releases to number 1, and Travis Scott fans will make ‘opium-core’ their whole personalities? Because of parasocial relationships.

In case you don’t know, a parasocial relationship is a one-sided relationship where one person is completely unaware that the other person exists. They’re usually perceived as the hyper-fixated, obsessive relationships that people develop with celebrities; although, we can also develop parasocial relationships towards sports teams, fictional characters, politicians, and more.

@xakiboi.com YEEZUS [TOUR] “I AM A GOD” | PT.3 #kanyewest #kanye #ye #yeezy #yeezus #music ♬ original sound – XAKIBOI

The popular narrative in 2024 would have us believe that parasocial relationships have gotten out of hand, crediting that to social media boosting our access to each other’s social lives, breaking down the barrier between fans and celebrities. But is it true that this the worst parasocial relationships have ever been?

Whilst no one can deny that many of the parasocial relationships fostered by fans nowadays border on unhealthy, it’s not a new phenomenon. You’ve probably seen the video of Michael Jackson on the Bucharest leg of his “The Dangerous Tour,” where people in the crowd were fainting in reaction to him standing still for 2 minutes, and that was in the ‘90s.

Even before this, the Beatles’ popularity in the 1960s was so intense that the press adopted the term “Beatlemania” to describe the insane frenzy the band sent its fans into, with some fans apparently even believing that the Beatles’ band members possessed supernatural healing powers.

When we compare this to the parasocial relationships of today, like the hysteric craze for bands like One Direction back in the day or ‘opium-core’ kids dressing like Travis Scott more recently, you’ll find that parasocial relationships aren’t actually getting worse. In fact, they’re pretty much the same. 

People have argued that the rise of social media has made our obsessions with celebrities more intense and parasocial, given that following someone on Instagram or TikTok gives us access to aspects of their lives that used to be kept private in the era of MJ and the Beatles. 

@pawlovvvsky FE!N LIVE CRACOW 🔥🌵🏜️ #travisscott #travisscottconcert #utopia #utopiatravisscott #fein #europetour #circusmaximustour ♬ dźwięk oryginalny – pawlovvvsky

We’d argue that the presence of celebrities on social media helps to ground them as human beings, essentially preventing us from falling too hard into a parasocial relationship with them. Whilst we do get to see more private moments of their personal lives, this makes them more relatable, countering the idea of celebrities as “superior” or “Gods.” 

Whilst some fan groups still arguably perceive the celebrity they idolise as Godly – yes, we’re looking at you, Yeezus fans – knowing that this isn’t a new phenomenon bred entirely by our access to social media makes it easier to swallow. Who knew Michael Jackson fans were more obsessed than Ye fans?

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