Why do we follow the exploits of celebrities?

The Wonders asks what makes someone a celebrity. Why do we follow the exploits of celebrities?

I think it is a combination of curiosity and fascination and wanting to live something different than the ordinary or normal.

Great question. As I was reading, this part, the fascination with a success story cropped into my mind. I suppose it's our need to know that out of the ordinary, great financial and other successes are possible.

It could also be a form of escapism from the realities of peoples daily mundane life. But, mostly I believe that this fascination is an artificial creation by the media. A marketing genius whereby industries ride the general peoples curiosity about celebs and piggy back their products via these folks.

Either way, the marketing of the wonders in the book was very believable.

I loved the book.

We love to live vicariously through the rich and famous and dream of the lives they must lead. People also have an even larger fascination with the problems and downfalls of these once admired celebrities.

I agree with Asha in particular about people being fascinated with sucess stories and the media having a lot to do with our perceptions. I, however, did not care for this book but will be interested in following the discussion.

God knows...I don't watch "reality" shows and can't stand the premise of them. I don't follow celebrities...nothing about knowing what they ate for breakfast enhances my life better than something else I can do with the time I would spend reading about it. Do we perhaps want to feel superior, or at least equal? I'm thinking of a study done on giving to charity: the researchers found that people who were at the poverty line who gave a little donation of something to someone made them feel "at least I'm better off than they are and I can afford to give him a quarter."

I agree with Lynn that we live vicariously through celebrities. We access their challenges and wonder how we would respond. I think sometimes the exploits of celebrities make us feel better. For example, I would never post a questionable picture on social media. A lot of us wonder how the "other half" lives. The Wonders was an especially appropriate name for these three - everything they were filled us with a sense of wonder. Their fame alone was a carefully manufactured wonder.

I have NO idea! Most of them are not interesting; have not contributed in any real way to the betterment of society; offer no enlightenment in any form. My guess is that people who follow the doings of celebrities are engaging in a form of voyeurism

I am for the most part totally uninterested in all that. However the news media must think that it is appealing to a lot of people. Radio, TV and print media spend a lot of time and money telling me what a lot of people are doing that is so totally unimportant that it is almost ludicrous. Someone must be interested I guess or they would not be so avid about reporting on it.

I don't or try not too follow any of the Celebes. I think the power and the pass on bad behavior that we give these so called celebrities appalling. There are so many important issues out there today that I honestly do not understand this fascination.

Why indeed? I ask that myself. I mean, you look at People magazine, and notice other peoples' lives, but in the age of the internet, things have exploded exponentially. I mean, I know if you are a performer, you probably sought fame to a certain degree, but never being able to do anything for fear of being followed, can not be worth it. I think the "fans" have too much time on their hands, something missing in their own lives, that make them think celebrities can fulfill.

I think for a lot of people celebrities live the lives we wish we could live ourselves. So we live vicariously through them, is one reason. Also, when they fall or do dumb things it makes some people feel better about their own lives

I'm not interested in celebrities' lives, but I do like to read biographies sometimes. I'm interested in history more now than when I was younger. Celebrities are usually attractive, and I think that's one reason some people are interested in them. In fairness, some celebrities live productive lives and seem to be great people. Those aren't usually the ones we hear about, however.

I agree with mariannes...I'm not interested in the soundbites about celebrities, but I do like to read a well written biography, especially about musicians I like. I'm not interested in what they wore to the Grammy Awards, but how they think, what drives them creatively, how their lives shaped their music. I generally have the same problem with all of news reporting; reporters seem to have forgotten the "Why" in the '5 W's and an H of writing'.

I think many people have bought into the highly planned publicity that presents these people as if their lives are magical and golden and as if these people are someone special. Then their photos are so retouched and their scripts are so carefully planned that some may wonder why "a little it of xyz face lotion" doesn't make us look forever.Of course, for those of us who see the celebrities out in public, we realize how Photoshopped their publicity photos are, how much plastic surgery might be involved (hmmmm, those cheek implants are visible! -yikes), or how soft that soft focus lens is on the movie cameras. Many celebs are often unrecognizable.

I wish to hell I could figure it out. I just don't get it, especially since many of them strike me as people I wouldn't want to associate with in the first place. That being said, reading about Leon and company kind of strips away the celebrity facade and makes you care about them.