I’ve been thinking about the skewed relationship between famous people and their fans: a singer or a movie star can say something that resonates with you, and suddenly you feel like you “relate” to them back. But it’s not reciprocated – they might affect your life greatly, but they don’t know who you are!
I’ll bet fame feels hollow: speaking into the void and get nothing back, and meanwhile, the audience thinks they are sooo amazing and sooo relatable!
Podcasters, as well, probably feel like they are living in this wacky vacuum: they are insightful and smart as they speak into your earballs for several hours each week, but they get nothing in return.
With this one-sided interaction between the famous and the consumer being so commonplace, it’s amazing that famous people don’t have even more stalkers in their fan base.
And then I compare fame to personal relationships. What exactly is a relationship, anyway? Do people just “think” they relate, or is it something deeper? Does the magic go beyond the two people speaking into separate voids and just sort of hearing each other? Is there another level to relationships that goes beyond what either of them says? Yes. And that’s why relationships are so freaking hard.
It’d be easier to speak into a vacuum, and imagine your adoring fans hanging on every word. It’s less work than a personal relationship where you have to both give and receive. Because at the end of the day, the famous person gets to turn off their microphone and go home. In life and in love, one never gets that luxury.