Absolutely spot on, Annette. You’ve articulated something a lot of us are feeling but struggling to say aloud. There’s a deep fatigue with celebrity culture—its narcissism, its performative “progress,” and its insatiable need to dominate every platform and conversation. They've colonized every corner of our cultural space, and now even the edge of space itself. And somehow, we’re expected to applaud these stunts while grocery bills climb and public trust erodes. At some point, the spectacle stops being amusing and starts feeling grotesque.
It seems to be a sign of the times. There’s no longer the same level of escapism watching these celebs have a fabulous life when the lives of so many are pushed to the limits where even basics are becomgin unaffordable. They just show themselves to be somewhat out of touch.
Except for Michael Sheen who has actively done something that genuinely helps with his cancellation of payday loans by buying up the debts with his own money. I shoudl have mentioned that!
Travelogue writing was an important publishing genre in nineteenth-century England. I am familiar with some of these diaries and memoirs documenting travel in North America. Among the most well-known nineteenth-century travelogues of North America were the works of Frances Trollope, Anthony Trollope (her son), and Charles Dickens. Matilda Houstoun recorded his travels to Texas. What all these writers have in common is having enough financial resources to travel and the time to write about them and publish them later. Most people in England could not afford pleasure travel to North America, so this created a market for those who could afford the vicarious experiences of reading travelogues. Readers were interested in the experiences of people traveling in North America. Like the Trollopes, Dickens, and Houstoun, Katy Perry and Lauren can afford the ride. Like Dickens, Katy Perry is already a household name. Will Perry’s tweetstorms (or whatever the medium) be as compelling as Dickins’ travelogue?
Twenty years ago travel writing had a healthy niche within the publishing trade. Under the Tuscan Sun was the biggest title that I can recall. I am not aware of recent travel titles, but there are some TV travel series.
If travelogues have died off, it can be explained through travel affordability. Transportation is so much cheaper now compared to the nineteenth-century. Jane Austen portrayed Elizabeth Bennet’s character as someone who could only travel 50 miles on special occasions, while there are many regular folks today (at least in the US) who travel 50 miles nearly daily. But space travel is the experience that few people will every have. But I would rather be earthbound myself. Space travel sounds boring to me.
Another aspect of this was raised by Rebecca Solnit in Wanderlust. I don't recall her text, but the idea was car passengers as passive objects moved by the machine contrasted with walking, where each person provides their own motive force and acts as a moral agent. In the these nineteenth-century travelogues, the writers recorded some of the experience as a passenger, but much of the content described places where they were lingering or walking. With space travel, it's almost all passenger experience and there is no place. Space travel is probably just really boring.
On the topic of celebrities, I question that it even makes sense to love or hate them. People act like they know celebrities and act like they know people whom they encounter over the Internet. We construct personalities based on flawed or limited evidence. If someone loves Katy Perry’s music and concert performances, that’s fine. What’s not fine is the arrogance of thinking we know her through reflections of the funhouse mirrors of public relations agents and gossip.
Again, I couldn't agree more. We think we know these people but we don't. On the other hand anyone with a public profile is using exactly this fault in our perception to do all sorts of things.
I think it's time to row back from hanging on every word a celebrity says. Just because they endorse something doesn't make it worthwhile. We are maxxed out on celebs.
Yes. In some important sense, we give them power through our attention and it’s appropriate to withdraw it. So I am very sympathetic to people who are done with celebrities.
What I see expressed elsewhere, however, is of celebrities failing and betraying them. Celebrities are just notable people whom we don’t know. It’s ok to applaud or censure them for discrete actions, but we will never know them as persons.
"…never know them"?! Ha! au contraire: either as awestruck empty vessels, or casual observers of their overtly displayed 'craft' (ugh) we know them too well; and if what is on offer is their best, we should rightly allow ourselves a wee ounce or two of abject condemnation in what is, after all, largely now their sphere. As the saying goes: f*** them.
Absolutely spot on, Annette. You’ve articulated something a lot of us are feeling but struggling to say aloud. There’s a deep fatigue with celebrity culture—its narcissism, its performative “progress,” and its insatiable need to dominate every platform and conversation. They've colonized every corner of our cultural space, and now even the edge of space itself. And somehow, we’re expected to applaud these stunts while grocery bills climb and public trust erodes. At some point, the spectacle stops being amusing and starts feeling grotesque.
It seems to be a sign of the times. There’s no longer the same level of escapism watching these celebs have a fabulous life when the lives of so many are pushed to the limits where even basics are becomgin unaffordable. They just show themselves to be somewhat out of touch.
Except for Michael Sheen who has actively done something that genuinely helps with his cancellation of payday loans by buying up the debts with his own money. I shoudl have mentioned that!
Thanks so much for the retweet.
Travelogue writing was an important publishing genre in nineteenth-century England. I am familiar with some of these diaries and memoirs documenting travel in North America. Among the most well-known nineteenth-century travelogues of North America were the works of Frances Trollope, Anthony Trollope (her son), and Charles Dickens. Matilda Houstoun recorded his travels to Texas. What all these writers have in common is having enough financial resources to travel and the time to write about them and publish them later. Most people in England could not afford pleasure travel to North America, so this created a market for those who could afford the vicarious experiences of reading travelogues. Readers were interested in the experiences of people traveling in North America. Like the Trollopes, Dickens, and Houstoun, Katy Perry and Lauren can afford the ride. Like Dickens, Katy Perry is already a household name. Will Perry’s tweetstorms (or whatever the medium) be as compelling as Dickins’ travelogue?
I suppose my complaint is that the celebrity is ubiquitous. They’re into everything, proliferate everything.
Today, it’s profile first then access all areas regardless of whether you have anything to say or any talent saying it.
I used to love travel writing and read loads and it’s not that there are no non-celebs writing etc it’s that there are barely any.
Twenty years ago travel writing had a healthy niche within the publishing trade. Under the Tuscan Sun was the biggest title that I can recall. I am not aware of recent travel titles, but there are some TV travel series.
If travelogues have died off, it can be explained through travel affordability. Transportation is so much cheaper now compared to the nineteenth-century. Jane Austen portrayed Elizabeth Bennet’s character as someone who could only travel 50 miles on special occasions, while there are many regular folks today (at least in the US) who travel 50 miles nearly daily. But space travel is the experience that few people will every have. But I would rather be earthbound myself. Space travel sounds boring to me.
https://bnjd.substack.com/p/friday-ruminations-24-january-2025?r=2jjed
Another aspect of this was raised by Rebecca Solnit in Wanderlust. I don't recall her text, but the idea was car passengers as passive objects moved by the machine contrasted with walking, where each person provides their own motive force and acts as a moral agent. In the these nineteenth-century travelogues, the writers recorded some of the experience as a passenger, but much of the content described places where they were lingering or walking. With space travel, it's almost all passenger experience and there is no place. Space travel is probably just really boring.
Perhaps they should be honest and describe themselves as passengers rather than the misleading 'crew'.
On the topic of celebrities, I question that it even makes sense to love or hate them. People act like they know celebrities and act like they know people whom they encounter over the Internet. We construct personalities based on flawed or limited evidence. If someone loves Katy Perry’s music and concert performances, that’s fine. What’s not fine is the arrogance of thinking we know her through reflections of the funhouse mirrors of public relations agents and gossip.
Again, I couldn't agree more. We think we know these people but we don't. On the other hand anyone with a public profile is using exactly this fault in our perception to do all sorts of things.
I think it's time to row back from hanging on every word a celebrity says. Just because they endorse something doesn't make it worthwhile. We are maxxed out on celebs.
Yes. In some important sense, we give them power through our attention and it’s appropriate to withdraw it. So I am very sympathetic to people who are done with celebrities.
What I see expressed elsewhere, however, is of celebrities failing and betraying them. Celebrities are just notable people whom we don’t know. It’s ok to applaud or censure them for discrete actions, but we will never know them as persons.
"…never know them"?! Ha! au contraire: either as awestruck empty vessels, or casual observers of their overtly displayed 'craft' (ugh) we know them too well; and if what is on offer is their best, we should rightly allow ourselves a wee ounce or two of abject condemnation in what is, after all, largely now their sphere. As the saying goes: f*** them.