Worshipping Strangers

When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, my first thought was, “Oh, the Oscars are still happening?” When everyone made a big deal about the NFL half-time show, I was like, “I thought the Superbowl was over.” People have often been fascinated by celebrities, but the reality is that they are only “important” because they are the people and lifestyles that are promoted by the dominant narrative. What would life be like if we stopped giving them so much credit and attention?

When rich people tell everyone what to think, it is very easy to justify the demoralizing tactics required to get more money than everyone else. Billionaires own the press, which influences why we think rich people are so great, and too many people fail to consider that hoarding resources only keeps people hungry. There is so much pain and devastation, but the worst people keep demanding that we pay attention, and because so many of us are cowed, that is exactly what we do. There is nothing to say about people with money, except maybe to instruct them to return it to those they exploited it from in the first place.

Anyone who participated in racial justice efforts beginning in the 2020s has been forced to endure excessive performative displays of people whining that they are good people. The lockdowns aided the rise of influencers, and there are so many new “celebrities” that it would be impossible to pay attention to everyone demanding it from us. What happened in 2024? The empire finally slid into a fascist oligarchy because surprise, surprise, famous people pretending to be antiracist failed to topple the dominant narrative. Superbowl shows are not liberation, and gawking at excessive attention-seekers is not changing the lives of anyone.

So many people think that if they keep worshipping celebrities and other holders of extreme wealth, some of that money will trickle down into their pockets. Here is the truth: people with money only value other people with money and staying comfortable. They will never return the care and concern of others, and we all saw that with the recent fires in California. There is nothing magical about having too much, and we all need to focus more on everyone having enough, because celebrities generally only care about themselves.