How close is too close?

Celebrity stalkers have been popping up more and more. We’re always hearing about them. Not only do these obsessed fans harass the stars, but also pose a threat to their families and security guards. Take for example Ryan Seacrests stalker. He was found lurking around the set of American Idol and proceeded to get into a physical altercation with Seacrest’s body guard. Only to be found again a few days later, but this time yielding a knife. The obsessions people have with celebrities are that of a fixation on something unattainable.

Sean Redmond talks about the boundaries between stars and consumers, “the adoring, obsessive fans play their part in this dissolution of the famous: they live their lives in and through the stars they want to worship. They put them under a panopticon of fame which itself can extend to the realms of psychotic. Obsessive fans blur and confuse the real and the fictional so that the star is imagined to respond to, or get in the way of their wishes and desires.” Obsessions form when people form imaginary relationships with celebrities and when they are unable to fulfill their desires in the relationship, it could result in feelings of hopelessness and resentment for the celebrity.

The threat of stalkers, no matter if the person is a celebrity or not, are always imminent. People are stalked everyday, it’s a scary thing. Celebrity stalkers get recognized because their obsessions are on a whole other level, or perhaps they are just trying to get media exposure. With the fame comes the consequences, and our culture regards celebrities highly- I mean they are talked about everyday. Celebrity stalkers aren’t going anywhere, there going to be present as long as pop culture exists because stars will always be on the pedestal.