With Taylor Swift taking the internet by storm over the past year—even winning TIME Magazine “Woman of the Year 2023”—the internet undoubtedly knows more about her than ever before: including details about her relationship with football player Travis Kelce. The internet had discovered her breakup with Joe Alwyn before it was even released by interpreting the songs she wrote about him during her performance on tour.
Pop culture has the tendency to gawk at and romanticize celebrity couples by placing them on a pedestal. For years, people have labeled couples like Beyonce and Jay Z or Zendaya and Tom Holland as “couple goals,” where so much of their time together has been available for scrutiny and interpretation by the public eye.
There have also been a fairshare of odd combination couples in recent media such as the brief relationship between Kim Kardasian and SNL breakout star Pete Davidson or Kylie Jenner and actor Timothee Chalamet. The internet pries into their personal lives, asking questions like “What do they even have in common?” or “What do they possibly talk about?”
The fascination with celebrity couples is not a new concept, but simply much more accessible thanks to modern media. Many of our parents grew up with similar icons such as Cher and Bono or even perhaps our grandparents with Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner. With the advancement of photography and media circulation, we have access to a plethora of information on celebrities.
American society has become more open on the discussion of sexuality allowing hookup culture to enter the picture. The current dating pool, for instance, is now taken less seriously with many dating without the serious intentions of long-term partnership. Many celebrities are followed with a camera for every move they make, which leads to them being caught in moments they may have preferred kept private. Most would be mortified at the concept of being caught doing the walk of shame on camera, yet we consider this normal to subject celebrities to.
For every modern celebrity couple, there are thousands of paparazzi pictures of them completing day to day tasks. Arguably, we have access to more information than the public should when it comes to the lives of celebrities. Do we really need so many pictures of Justin and Hailey Bieber walking in and out of stores and restaurants? Such access gives fans and spectators a feeling that they truly know the couple and what they are like together, when they simply don’t. Even so, many feel entitled to an opinion on couples they have not and most likely will not meet.
