It’s 7am and your alarm is going off. Time to start your never ending day of school work, school work, actual work and then, right before your 4 hours of sleep, more school work. It’s tempting to start dreaming of a questionable line of work that doesn’t warrant a college degree, or magically waking up with the last name of Jenner or Kardashian. I mean, they have it all. More money than you could ever hope or dream of, notoriety, access to the world, everything. But in light of recent events, something big seems to be missing from that list, privacy.
If you haven’t had access to the internet, a friend, or TV in the last few weeks you may have missed out on some earth shattering news. Kim Kardashian was allegedly robbed at gunpoint and over 10 million dollars worth of her belongings stolen. Why? Is social media to blame? Or is the fact that these people that we watch everyday, or people whose music we religiously listen to make us feel as if we have this unrealistic connection to them? I know, stalkers and thieves aren’t limited to big name stars, it happens to everyone, just turn on the news. But the severity of these crimes and lack of privacy far exceed anything we have to deal with.
Whenever we go to a cool place, we immediately pull out our phones and log everything on snapchat. Many of us, never failing to use a geotag. We let our friends and family know how much fun we are having and exactly where we are. The last thing on our minds being how fast can someone with ill intentions take this information and possibly harm us with it? On a recent episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the youngest member of the family was instructed to not post on snapchat until after she leaves that place, and to keep her phone on airplane mode while doing so. When was the last time that was a concern for you? Recently, Kim shared her Paris vacation with her millions of snapchat viewers. They got a small glimpse into her life; viewing expensive clothes and jewelry. But this treatment isn’t just exclusive to Paris. The Kardashian family often showcase their life through snapchat, making themselves vulnerable and open to potential threats.
The Kardashian Sisters
That’s one example, let’s look at another: Justin Bieber. Immediate eye rolls might have ensued just by looking at his name, which is conceivable, he does crazy things. But wouldn’t you? You got to experience life without the whole world critiquing you, you got to experiment with things in highschool, and you got to go through that awkward stage where everyone is just trying to figure themselves out. It’s a hard time. Now amplify that by picturing your face all over magazines and online for everyone to see. The most gritting part to me, is that your job never shuts off. Vacations included. He doesn’t have the luxury to enjoy a new part of the world without having paparazzi on every corner or people having their camera phones constantly in his face. Just recently, Justin has banned fans from taking pictures with him for fear of them just using his face for a like on instagram. Gone are the days where people actually want to have conversations with you, and here’s to the times where people only care about scoring that perfect picture to attain accolades from friends. Justin Bieber has transitioned from an energetic 15 year old to someone completely run ragged from the demands of media and “fans.”
Justin Bieber, Getty Image
Like I mentioned before, we as fans, feel deeply tethered to celebrities that, in reality, have no idea we exist. Most of us feel as if we know our favorite athletes, musicians, actors, on a personal level and social media helps perpetuate that. We are able to get a sense of closeness by “seeing” these people outside of their craft. Actress Sophia Bush expresses her feelings towards this craze on her Twitter account. Sophia starts off by saying, “If you feel ignored or invisible just be sure that we’ve probably seen you. We read a lot of tweets. There’s no possible way to reply to all of them.” Being that people tend to make up false reasonings because of the lack of interaction, she continues on with, “You’re creating a narrative that makes us wonder if there’s a larger issue at hand that we are not, in any way, equipped to deal with.”
Sophia Bush
Chrissy Teigan, who, like Sophia, actively share their political views, has had to private her Twitter account because of the unwarranted death threats that bombard her daily. Her most basic human right, she felt needed to be silenced, or at least limited, in fear of what people might do.
As the saying goes, “Would you rather be poor and happy or rich and upset?”, some people might answer that with the latter. I can’t say that I wouldn’t want to have a Freaky Friday moment with Kylie Jenner here and there. But for today, I think I’ll keep my last name and my normalcy.
HCXOXO, Imani
Photo resources: https://www.pinterest.com/jennycar05/sophia-bush/
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