The Trap of Celebrity
Celebrities have a hard task: They need to both seem otherworldly come off as relatable. They star in blockbuster movies and produce hit songs, but we also see them pounding a Dunkin’ iced coffee on the street, and tune in to watch them cook in an expensive kitchen. Allowing us to like we know our idols while keeping their more vulnerable details hidden is a delicate dance. The healthy market for celebrity memoirs is perhaps an appropriate representation of this trend: That genre is where famous people (and their this week. And when A-listers choose to reveal some of the most intimate details of their life—a , for example—it’s a way of exerting control over their own narrative, according to the author Renee Cramer. If fans feel privy to that information, and paparazzi will try to sniff it out, isn’t it better to reveal it yourself?
