Why do celebrities fake their relationships to advance their careers?
In many cases, the "PROmances" (which is when two celebrities form a couple) are a mere marketing strategy.
The "PROmances" (when two celebrities form a couple, where love matters less than profiles) are nothing new, but watching Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston kiss all over the world is like watching a fruit rot in a timelapse; the acceleration of the grotesque is fascinating, teaching us something literal and metaphorical about the world around us.
On the surface, this pairing makes perfect sense: Swift is the most successful pop star on the planet, Hiddleston is a very British actor in a very successful franchise. He is tall and she is tall. Neither of us can dance. But the overly public way they've carried out their romance so far - kissing on a beach in front of the paparazzi, meeting each other's parents in front of the paparazzi, touring Rome in front of the paparazzi, celebrating the 4th of July in front of the paparazzi - has made everyone from their respective fans to Phillip Schofield view the show as a sham.
But celebrities end up having fake relationships all the time, for many reasons. Usually it is a typical cynical ambition. As has been demonstrated by genuine couples from Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbank to today's mainstays like the Beckhams, the Knowles-Carters, the Kardashian-Wests, and the Jolie-Pitts, two celebrities are better than one in terms of gaining power. and brand recognition. For the rich and famous it makes sense, strategically speaking, to date other rich and famous people.
Sometimes this type of agreement turns into spectacular crap. Kaley Cuoco, star of the inexplicably veteran and award-winning canned laugh show The Big Bang Theory, and Henry Cavill, the guy who got the role of Superman because he's the non-gay version of Matt Bomer, were both portrayed by the same relationship company. Public and completely coincidental, they began to come out in 2013, a date close to the launch of Man of Steel. Their grocery shopping trips failed to convince people that they were doing more than holding hands as a camera lens focused on them, and their "relationship" was comically brief. They now have the dubious honor of topping the "TOP 10 CELEBRITY RELATIONSHIPS THAT WERE TOTALLY FALSE !!"
On the other hand, relationships forged in a boardroom from a marketing meeting can occasionally blossom into something more genuine. It seems likely that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, being the stars of one of the world's largest teen film franchises, were urged to replicate their off-screen romance, to further sell the idea of love without limits to Twilight fans. Their relationship, which was never officially confirmed but recounted through cameras and red carpet appearances, may have started out as a job, but four years later it seemed to have gotten real. By the time Stewart was found to be cheating on R. Pattz with the director of his movie Snow White and the Huntsman, they had moved in together, acquired pets, and were more relaxed to talk about their romance.
Then there are the PROmances where one or both members of the couple hide their sexuality in order to maintain their appeal within the industry and to the public. This practice has been invoked in celebrity circles for years: constant castmates Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, one of the most prominent couples of Hollywood's golden age, never married or aired their affairs throughout their lives. long-standing relationship. The public never found out.
Recently, with a greater acceptance of homosexual relationships, this type of Public Relations arrangement is less common, and high-profile personalities who avoid making their sexual preference explicit prefer to live in a "glass closet" and maintain their privacy.
The trend toward publicized relationships appears to have waned in an age of social media, which relies more on transparency and honesty than deception and manipulation. Celebrities can still be seen together, of course, most of the time because they have agents, publicists, managers, and record labels in common, but once the pictures hit the press and the speculation begins, they can tweet a rebuttal that gets them into the publicity game: the headline "ARE YOU A COUPLE?" and the headline "FAMOUS PERSON DENIES RUMORS!" are often as effective as faking a romance. When relationships are designed, they are usually handled with such refinement that they never arouse suspicion.
That's why Hiddleswift, wild-eyed and eager for attention, seems particularly clumsy. If Hiddleston intended to enrich his profile in order to secure the role of James Bond, he has backfired spectacularly, as he was discarded despite offering an excellent extended audition on The Infiltrator.
Another more likely sequence of events is that Swift wanted to pre-empt Kim Kardashian-West's cover story for GQ magazine, in which she accused Swift of giving the nod to the controversial lyrics of Kanye's single "Famous," which the even more controversial video followed — a wax model of Swift naked on a bed with Kanye, Kim, and other celebrities. This is a story that she probably wanted to bury under a deluge of "good" news, like having a new boyfriend, just three weeks after she left the last one.
Whatever the truth, when operating at a level as high as Taylor's, to a certain extent, every move you make is calculated by PR to a certain extent. Her personal life has been managed in the same way as her professional life since the appearance of her group of friends and her constant acceptance on the stage of her last world tour. Every sleepover, every 4th of July celebration is accompanied by a professional photographer who provides Instagram photos for everyone. Maybe Swift and Hiddleston really are a perfect ambitious couple. In which case, good luck to them, and may the Lord have mercy on us.
