Discussion
In October 2021, when COVID was still raging, I wanted to go on a trip where I could spend most of my time outdoors. I found myself staying at an AirBNB in Knoxville, Tennessee.
I rented a car and went to the Green McAdoo Cultural Center to learn about the desegregation of Clinton High School.
I went to the Museum of Appalachia, because I love Appalachian music.
And I went to Dollywood, where I checked out rides, picked up way too many loaves of cinnamon bread, bought a "Jolene, You Can Have Him" t-shirt, and took in all of the Dolly Parton paraphenelia I could find.
I am in the process of writing a zine called Parasocial, which is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek critique of celebrity culture. I hate it when I'm standing in line for an autograph and it begins to feel like a competition with other fans. I hate it when I find myself fawning over objects people owned.
I hate knowing so much about people who know nothing about me. I hate this need so many of us have to strive for some kind of personal connection with people whose entire job is mass communication.
@yaelwrites And on the flip side, those glorious moments when you and someone arguably 'famous' have a moment of real connection as people.
And it's weird to hero worship people who have curated personalities, most of which who end up being awful. Most of the people I have hero worshipped, turns out, were wildly abusive. I mean it's not like I knew them, anyway. None of us did.
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