Last month, Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard came under fire by fans of the show on Twitter.
Why? Simply because he refused to greet fans who had waited for him outside of his hotel.
Wolfhard cited the need for privacy as his reason for not stopping for the fans.
Soon enough, people began calling him “heartless” and “rude” and threatened to stop watching his show.
Others said that as a celebrity, he should not expect to have his privacy maintained.
“Crazy fans come with the job,” one person tweeted.
As a response, other actors came to Wolfhard’s defense, including fellow Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp, who tweeted that “We all need a break sometimes.”
The situation died down within a week, but it sparked a new debate: should famous people like actors and singers expect their fans to respect their privacy?
The only right answer to this question is yes.
It is time that regular people start treating celebrities as people with feelings, rather than treating them like caged animals at a zoo.
There is no one that would like to have people insist on having a conversation with them. There is no one who wants random people to show up at their door.
“Celebrities should have their privacy and need for solitude respected. They’re people as well. They deserve the same amount of respect that regular people do,” sophomore Rafi Krikorian said.
Celebrities are people too. Things like having an iPhone shoved in their face can make them uncomfortable the same way it would anyone else.
Just like normal people, the famous will have bad days where they want to be left alone, or days where they want to relax with family and friends.
When a fan comes rushing to them to have a few minutes of attention, it is annoying and will agitate the celebrity.
Actress Jennifer Lawrence has said that when people come up to her in public, she gets so irritated that she tells them that “it’s my day off.”
And who can blame her? Who would not get upset when their work gets in the way of what was supposed to be a fun, calm day?
“Just because they are celebrities doesn’t mean that we should know everything about them or that they have to say ‘hi’ to us,” Krikorian said.
If someone sees a famous person and wants to approach them, they should do it calmly and ask before trying to take a picture.
If the celebrity doesn’t want to talk, then just leave. It does not mean that they are mean or that they don’t appreciate their fans. It just means that they want a moment to themselves in their ordinarily hectic lives.
Social media has created a new platform where celebrities are free to interact with fans at any moment.
Many celebrities have accounts on apps like Twitter. People should take advantage of that and try to get the attention of celebrities there instead of forcing it in person.
Celebrities spend long hours crafting art for people to enjoy.
Sure, they earn an exorbitant amount of money for it and they get to attend award shows and other events.
But at they end of the day, they are human beings just doing what they love. They shouldn’t have to deal with incessant harassment because of it.