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Why do you think some people are obsessed with celebrities and the show business? Do you think this affects the society negatively? Why?
Interviewee’s Answer:
Before going to the reasons for people’s obsession for celebrities and the show business, it is important to define the difference between an admiration and an obsession. To admire a celebrity is to have high respect or warm approval of a celebrity’s physical features, skills or outputs. To be obsessed with a celebrity means to express one’s admiration irrationally, to the point that one will be preoccupied or too intrusive with his or her thoughts and actions toward a celebrity.
Psychologists say that there is indeed a condition where people become too obsessed with films, TV shows, actors and actresses. This may even extend to the field of sports or politics because people have the tendency to be obsessed with celebrities who are often seen in public. Experts call this condition the Celebrity Worship Syndrome.
In my opinion, the most pertinent reason for people to be obsessed with celebrities is the inability to limit oneself in using acceptable ways to express an admiration for a celebrity. I guess each person has a celebrity that he or she admires or idolizes but not all people go as far as following celebrities on world tours or buying every product that feature a favorite star, no matter how expensive they may be. When people go overboard or become too irrational in expressing their admiration for a celebrity, that is when it can be considered as an obsession.
On a lighter note, people who just admire celebrities may have reasons like being able to identify with the star they idolize or considering a celebrity as a role model. Sometimes admiring celebrities is a way to release frustrations or fulfill subconscious desires. People’s reasons for admiring or obsessing on celebrities may vary and these reasons only become a problem when they cause harm. Stalking, vandalizing, trespassing and doing other kinds of misdemeanors because of one’s admiration for a star are examples of situations where admirations and obsessions for celebrities affect the society negatively.
To sum everything up, I believe that admiring celebrities and the show business is acceptable to some extent. Being too fixated or obsessed with them can be an indication of an inability to know one’s limitations, to the point that admiring celebrities and the show business can cause harm to the person, the celebrity and the society.
1. The interviewee differentiated the meaning of an admiration and an obsession.
2. The interviewee said that the inability to recognize limitations as one of the most pertinent reasons for an obsession for a celebrity or the show business.
3. The interviewee gave examples of situations where admiring celebrities can end up giving negative effects to the society.
obsession 집착/
