It’s been a month since her breakup with One Direction’s Harry Styles, but Taylor Swift doesn’t seem quite over it yet.
While opening a set at the Grammys last weekend, she faked a British accent and joked, “So he calls me up and he’s like, ‘I still love you.'”
Ouch.
I used to like Taylor Swift. She seemed so innocent and sweet, strumming her guitar while singing “Love Story,” using her songs to give voice to teenage girls everywhere exploring the twists and turns of love.
Turns out, T-Swift isn’t perfect. As of lately, she has been chastised for dating so many guys within the past few years and then writing hit singles blaming the guy after the relationship ends. Many say she’s immature, annoying and in need of a serious mental checkup.
Not that our society’s obsession with celebrity mistakes is anything new.
It seems like celebrities are slipping up on a regular basis, from the recent drama over the legitimacy of Beyoncé’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the presidential inauguration to Justin Bieber’s apparent drug usage to Charlie Sheen’s breakdown in 2011.
America worships celebrities. We have a plethora of magazines, TV shows and blogs keeping track of their daily lives and chronicling everything from their marriages to their apparel and hairstyle transformations. We buy clothes that look like theirs, watch the movies they star in and listen to their music.
So if we Americans love our stars, why does it seem like we enjoy criticizing and destroying the celebrities once we discover they’re flawed? Why does society taunt the very people that we used to adore so much?
These celebrities are essentially living the dream that we all wish we could have. I wish I could ride in their Lamborghinis, party all night with other A-listers and call a 10,000-square-foot mansion my home. I wish I could sing as well as Adele can or win as many Oscars as Clint Eastwood.
So when the stars fall, society is shocked and disappointed. These pop culture heroes couldn’t possibly have done drugs, cheated on a significant other or lip-synched the national anthem. They’re supposed to be perfect!
I personally feel conflicted when it comes to the celebrity dilemma. Sometimes I pity them. Their mistakes and their struggles remind me of my own and allow me to view them as just ordinary people leading extraordinary lives. But then I think, _they’re celebrities!_ They should be held to a higher standard — it comes with the job. The camera points at you all the time, so suit up, act mature and don’t do anything stupid.
Prince Harry, back in August of last year, did something stupid. He partied nude in Vegas but made a public apology days later. Likewise, Beyoncé admitted to lip-synching at the inauguration at a Super Bowl press conference and promised she would sing live at the halftime show. These celebrities admitted their bad judgments to the people they hurt and to the people who adore them. And I can forgive them for that.
It doesn’t mean they get away with a simple apology, though. As celebrities, they should know the public is watching and judging their every move because, after all, that’s what being famous is all about. They should have responsibilities to act appropriately and think, _would I like what I see on People magazine the next day?_, before they act.
The media creates celebrities and elevates them to a level way above the average Joe, but let’s try to view them under a different light instead of the shiny, stage light of fandom, money and parties. They’re human. They make mistakes. And as long as they apologize and remember to watch their actions, we don’t have to feel so bad about loving them.