I Have No Idea Who the F*** That Is

Tales of a Pop Culture Luddite

I read headlines on Medium or on the “news”. I see clickbait clips online telling me how so-and-so is getting married, how this famous person is now in the doghouse. I read about how everyone is mad at whozits for what they said on <insert social media platform of the month here>.

It’s frankly quite shocking (not to mention embarrassing) how much time and energy the human race engages in pop culture gossip, discussion, analysis, attention and so on. Medium is awash in the opinions of writers about this or that celebrity’s actions. If I wasn’t so busy scrolling past these, I’d cringe. We do still dearly love to talk about other people — famous people in particular. I am not one of them.

Celebrity is the advantage of being known to people who we don’t know, and who don’t know us. — Nicolas Chamfort

Just to be clear: After a lifetime of hard practise, after decades of intentionally tuning it all out, I believe I’ve at last reached the apotheosis of ignorance: I haven’t a clue who any of the famous people are any more. I see names and faces and they mean nothing to me. The articles and “news” about them may as well be gossiping about the lady who sat next to me on the bus last Thursday…