Deconstructing Celebrity Culture: A Systemic Therapist’s Perspective on Capitalism, Oppression, and Self-Reflection

I am being trained right now to be a systemic therapist. And systemic therapists think macro and Mike micro, which means that I can see webs and things and maybe some people who are not able to think critically can’t. So my page is to deconstruct these things in you. And I’m not blaming you for thinking like this. I actually think that it’s the capitalist system in which we actually live in that trains or instills these belief systems on people so that it can keep living because it’s like a parasite. It needs to control people in a certain way to adopt these belief systems so that it can keep thriving, it can keep perpetuating.

And I remember, and I know this because I’m 34 years old. And when I was younger, there were so many more rich content in media that educated, made people think and all that.

And now television is absolute trash. It, all it does is create shock, it create emotion, but it doesn’t create logic and critical thinking. Or, you know, at least in a way that people can be like, how can I apply that for myself? That is actually books for me, which is why I don’t watch television like that.

But let’s go back to the topic, right, which is how we see that celebrities are a tool of capitalism. And the thing is that they’re like running in their pannies right now because the fact that people are blocking them, they’re saying, we’re not gonna give you money, we’re not gonna give you revenue because you literally provide nothing for society and you’re just flaunting your riches. Is the fact that people are fed up? It’s a sign that people are fed up with capital with them because s the celebrities are like the goal. Like they put him on a pedestal. They make them work. They make him show this lavish, this lifestyle or whatever to tell you the little person, keep working, keep hustling, you’re gonna reach it, you’re gonna be like them one day. You’re gonna like have the cars. You’re gonna have the women and you’re gonna have the luxury, you’re gonna have the vacations and da, da, da, da, which is a tool of perpetuating the system itself.

And it’s a lie because many of these people are neppo babies. And many of these people only navigate themselves in an inner circle that doesn’t allow many people to peer in from time to time. They allow some, nobody to come and rise to fame because it gives people that sense of, oh, my god, I can make it, too. But the fact is that a lot of these people either already have rich parents or a trust fund or people who are already rich and then they rise to fame, aka Ariana Grande, for example. So the fact is that it’s a lie. And the fact, and, and, and when people tell you, well, do, we should be talking about politicians and it doesn’t help Gaza at all. It’s also a lie because celebrities are being used to ignore the issues that matter, the bills that are being put out. People participate more in gossip of celebrities than knowing when their next town hall meeting. And that is the role that celebrities play in our society, to distract people from actually being engaged in their civil rights because. Boring, and they make civil rights boring on purpose so that people don’t engage with them because they don’t want people to vote, to be informed, to know what’s happening in their town, to know what’s happening in the state, to know what’s happening in their country. And TikTok has been amazing for it because it has taught us to learn from each other because we are more entertaining and are teaching each other in a more entertaining way than when they post the meetings about like the votes and they’re like number call, blah, blah and they do it on purpose. If they actually wanted people to vote and be active in their civil rights, trust me, there will be fireworks and there will be days off and all of that. And you know that there’s also the fact that at the core of dismantling systems of oppression is the self, the core self. And when I’m saying that, I’m talking about the person who knows who they are, who are very genuine in who they are, who have very clear where their morals and their character and their values are. And they’re not easily swayed by what a celebrity says or what a person does or what their friend says. That’s how you know you’re truly your core self. You have empathy for other people because the morals, your values and your character dictate that. Not who’s talking about it, not whether or not is popular. But the fact is that celebrity culture is a tool of dismantling the self, of diminishing the self, because they serve as this, like, oh my god, you could be this, but you’re not you.

Many people, and this is a reality, compare themselves to celebrities to the point where their self is distracted, where their self esteem is on the floor. And it teaches people you need to be ruthless. You need to just think about yourself. You need to like, if you wanna make it to this, you have to step on people and you can have empathy for like the labor, child workers across the ocean. And you just have to go for it. And like, you know, the people who are like, oh, well, my Airbnb and my business and no, no, no. And they’re just buying schools in Puerto Rico without thinking about the impact that has in the communities. Why? Because they’re trying to achieve riches like the ones that the celebrities promise people. And some of them are, you know, living the live vacations but without. At what cost? The cost is people human, a humanness, human life, human morals and how people easily forget them when they’re put in phrase to face with fame, fortune and power.

If celebrity is wearing a tool of oppression whenever a celebrity talks in favor of, you know, a movement, in this case, Palestine, Congo, whatever, they wouldn’t be blacklisted. But the fact is that if you talk in any way outside of the system itself, you are threatening the income that these people do that, like the circle of friends where they gather and move. So they will blacklist anyone who talks differently, anyone who tries to stir the pot in favor of those who are less fortunate. And they would put facades of donating money and being good people and paying things and caring for their fans. But no, that they wouldn’t even piss on you if you were on fire. They would. I think I heard this creator and I’m definitely taking from the creator right now when I’m saying that they would literally light up a marshmallow and like I love that metaphor, light up a marshmallow on you as you were on fire because they wouldn’t care and they don’t care about you.

Which takes me to the other part of this, which is the fact that Paris, social relationships are abusive. And you’re having an, it’s like capitalism has like this tool to create, diminish the sense of view to the point where you’re just giving love, money, attention, power to someone that literally doesn’t know who you are, doesn’t give about who you are, and literally doesn’t give anything back to you other than saying, look at me, high and mighty, you are so welcome from looking at me and you should pay for it at. And that is abusive relationship, one to one. Because when you’re just pouring into our relationship without getting anything back, your brain literally makes you attach yourself more to that. It’s like when the victim of abuse stays in an abusive relationship and it’s really hard to leave them because they cannot fathom how they could stay through all the abuse and not get anything and literally keep being abused. So it is kind of like a porous parasitial abuse relationship because you’re literally getting nothing. They don’t care about you. They don’t know who you are and you’re investing in them and they don’t even know who you are. So all they do is take from you. And that tells your brain, well, we’re here for a reason. They must be amazing if we’re here for a reason and we’re not getting anything bad back. So the last thing I would say, it’s also a reflection of the heart of the people who follow them. Because if you’re here saying that celebrities don’t have fault and that they shouldn’t be activist, it’s also a reflection that tells you that if you were in that position or if you are the one attempted to be like them, you shouldn’t have accountability for behaving in a way that contributes back to society. It’s a reflection of people saying, well, I wouldn’t care about children dying or children born to pieces. And I don’t, because I don’t care that the people that I look up to don’t either. So I think that kind of makes people shitty.