The Show Must Go On: A Study on Celebrity Worship during COVID19

Abstract

The world has irrevocably changed due to the global pandemic. As cases kept rising, countries started closing their boundaries and put their citizens in lockdown, enforcing the message ‘stay at home, stay safe.’ It was the first time perhaps since the world war that the entire world was going through the same crisis at the same time. Every industry went through setbacks including the multibillion dollars’ worth entertainment industry. Film production stopped, theatres were shut, and film stars were confined to their homes. Film stars and pop singers who constitute the majority of the genre of celebrities as we know them today were now caught in a new situation. Confined to their homes, with no prospect of work for some time and perhaps to stay relevant and in tune with their fan base, started churning out videos and engaging with fans on social media platforms. This paper studies the already existing psychological phenomenon of celebrity worship and places it in the backdrop of COVID19 to study if the pandemic has had any impact, causing change in the perception of celebrities and celebrity culture. The chief findings of the study are that the pandemic has exposed the realness and vulnerability of celebs and this has allowed fans to relate to the stars better. This study shows that though fans are aware of possible superficiality and hypocrisy of the privileged lives of their favourite stars it doesn’t stop them from viewing the posts as entertaining and welcome it as a distraction, even during such a period of acute crisis. Celebrity culture has not waned. As long as there are fans, it is here to stay.