The really great thing about a movie star is that his love, like that of a god, is unconditional. He doesn't know we exist. He cannot mourn us. He can only be who he is, a star. ”When New York author and poet Tom Disch wrote these lines in 2008 for actor Heath Ledger, who died young, Instagram didn't yet exist. Stars were smooth projection surfaces for their fans' dreams. Disch's comparison of God aptly describes the unconditional love that the admirers could be sure of, as they had no way of communicating with those who were adored and of being told anything else by them. The words of the poet also meet another characteristic: Stars were distant, unearthly beings. When Heath Ledger diedHis public image was shaped by the outstanding talent with which he shone in his film roles - and some gossip reports about his insomnia and drug abuse. In addition, there was no actual insight into his private life.
Maria Wiesner
Editor in the Society department at FAZ.NET.
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A good decade and a few social media platforms later, that has changed drastically: Today, Kourtney Kardashian hops in a string on her partner Travis Barker, Karolína Kurková presents her pregnancy to the public with a nude picture, and the singer Lizzo also likes to teaser her songs times in underwear. If you open Instagram today, you are sometimes closer to the stars than you would like. During the pandemic, for example, you saw Madonna, naked, in the tub between rose petals, pondering about life. “Mad Men” super housewife January Jones shared on Instagram, bored of the lockdown, what she pours into her “bath soup” (including baking powder, salt and vinegar). And the otherwise so well-trained actor Will Smith showed himself, thanks to Corona kilos, "in the worst shape" of his life,with tummy and slack arms.
Body positivity, fitness and selfies
Gods look different.
Reality shows on television had gotten used to the fact that the third row of would-be celebrities exposed itself.
But how do we react when the demigods now rise from their Olympus and present their human weaknesses to us in social networks?
How Facebook, Twitter and Co. influence the body images of their users is increasingly a topic of psychological research.
But mostly these are studies with a smaller group of subjects, the focus varies between questions about body positivity, fitness and selfies.
Few scientists consider the aspect of prominence.
In 2015, Australian psychologists Jasmine Fardouly and Lenny R. Vartanian surveyed 227 female students.
Their result: Anyone who sees posts and pictures of close relatives and acquaintances on Facebook does not feel any pressure to compare them.
However, when it comes to celebrity images, users find their own bodies less attractive.
The researchers warn that this effect could increase the longer the users stayed on the platform.
The phenomenon has not only existed since social networks exist.
It is so old that it has already been used in pop culture.