Celebrity Worship

©2021 by Vernon Miles Kerr and VernonMilesKerr.com — Originally posted to Twitter as a rough-draft on October 31, 2021

I spent some time on the “Barbara Streisand” trend on Twitter this morning.  I came away puzzled.  I agree, she has one of the most beautiful singing voices in popular music. But is that any reason to “worship” her?  Don’t tell me all those effusive tweets aren’t a form of idolatry (sort of). 

Now, mere moments later, I see “Linda Ronstadt” is trending on Twitter. I suppose her supplicants are chiming in now.  I won’t got there (although I would vote for Linda over Barbara, because of Linda’s versatility.)

Anyway, we’re talking about two people who have honed artistic skills to the level that people would gladly buy expensive concert tickets to hear them.  I would too.  But, hey. Plenty of other people develop singing skills, athletic skills, acting skills, and artistic skills.  A lot of us worship some of them too — even though they could be horrible people in private (regardless of making great shows of philanthropy.) But what if the ONLY good they’ve ever generated during their short time on Earth is to entertain people, by demonstrating their extreme levels of skill?

Celebrity-worship is sort of silly.