Jake Halpern's The Popular Crowd

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Celebrity worship is a term given to those who obsess over one or more celebrity. Jake Halpern's "The Popular Crowd," discusses how loneliness increases the likelihood of someone worshiping celebrities. Worshiping of celebrities is not necessarily bad, it can be helpful for those who have a social need that they need satisfied. However, this worshiping can sometimes lead to stalking and violence towards celebrities. Once this happens celebrities are put in danger. Some celebrities receive phone calls, letters, emails, and more from stalkers. They might not feel like this is a sign of danger, but it is. In order for celebrities to remain safe, they need to be educated about dangers that come with having fans.
People are increasingly turning to para-social relationships because their social needs are not being met. A para-social relationship is a one sided relationship based on an illusion of a connection to another person. People who form these types of relationships can be lonely or not getting the social interactions they need. Halpern states, “The combination of loneliness and …show more content…

When they feel rejected they can become extremely violent towards whoever they feel rejected them. Celebrities need to be made aware of how to handle stalkers, so that when they are faced with the problem they can deal with it properly. A forensic science graduate states, "Risk management strategies for this type should emphasize the need for professional protection of the target despite the low frequency risk of violence, since the injury is likely to be more serious if violence does occur …" (Mohandie). Many celebrities won't go to the police to report stalkers because they do not believe it is a real problem. This does not help them get the stalker to go away. When celebrities learn about how to deal with stalkers they are more likely to report the problem to the

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