An open letter to celebrities; Stop caring about what we have to say

One thing I’ve always wrestled with inside my head when it comes to our society is the dynamic between the ‘inconsequential’ and the ‘famous’. We (I’m speaking for the inconsequentials here) spend inordinate amounts of our days talking, thinking, and being generally upset about how you icons of our culture (the famous) go about your lives.

However, the crazier part is how this behavior somehow elicits responses from you people time and time again. Sure, cancel culture may claim a couple of your scalps for its mantle, more often than not the subjects of outrage return to their everyday lives within a week though. In this sense, I understand the desire to publicly defend oneself when under attack, it’s human nature. But you all live so far removed from the rest of us that the threats you people react to aren’t even close to imminent. So why do you give us even a smidge of your time when you’ll never be more than an idea to the rest of us?

Are you people so high above the clouds that you can no longer see how little we must look on the ground? Can’t you see that you’ve already won the luxuries of cultural clout that all the rest of us are still squabbling over?

For godsakes, Chrissy Teigen announces she’s taking a break from Twitter more often than I get to see my extended family. And it seems like Joe Rogan makes an apology every other week for something he said on a podcast where he spews anything that comes to mind for hours at a time. I think the man is a perfect example of this weird relationship between the public and the famous. He’s nothing more than a normal guy, his words not mine, yet he’s almost become a cultural institution. Every slight misstep in wording or controversial opinion of his is met with harsh resistance and outcry, time and time again he responds. Rogan brandishes himself as a self-proclaimed idiot, again not my words, but still bends the knee to those who are the same but are in denial. Why? Simply because their voices become louder the more numerous they are? To me, it makes no sense, take ivermectin for breakfast daily and juice yourself to the gills if you’d like. You wouldn’t let a friend tell you otherwise, so why a horde of Twitter users instead?

I’d like to think that I understand you people, like Joe, to a certain extent; regular everyday folks wrought with flaws like the rest of us. Maybe some of you got lucky and the internet or your industries sent you flying to the top, others, possibly you simply excel at what you do best. Either way, I know that your status is in no way reflective of who you are at your core, even if my neighbors don’t. For some reason they seem to hold you up on some sort of pedestal, expecting you all to devote your free time and resources towards humanitarian causes and public service.

But you never asked to be placed under this microscope, did you? At most, all you wanted was to provide for those you love and find recognition among your peers, am I wrong? None of you ever claimed to be angels on Earth, and many of you I’m sure have no intention of ever becoming one. Thus, I pose one last question to you, the celebrities who will surely never read this, what the hell are you doing?

You allow yourselves to be subjected to the expectations of people who will never know your character, you’re not famous for being a good person. The only reasons they know your names are because you may have pretended to be a fictitious character on a show they watch or you occasionally make them laugh. If I were in your shoes I would make my money, flip the bird to the public, and then live amongst my friends and family somewhere very far away (kudos to Kendrick Lamar). You’re fighting a losing battle by engaging in a war of words with those of us who have no shortage of them. You’ve beaten all of us at the game of life, fair and square, now go enjoy your spoils.

And you, my fellow inconsequential who’s reading this at the moment, do yourself a favor and leave these people alone. View what they create, discuss and enjoy it, but nothing more. Reallocate this energy towards harassing your elected officials and representatives, the ones who are actually lying to you about their character. Find idols and role models who are worth your time, whose virtuous actions and words you can personally attest to. I think you’ll find a lot more success this way, and less disappointment when those you’ve never met are ‘unexpectedly’ not who you thought they were.