The Loneliness Epidemic: Celebrities May Not Be Immune

Jussie Smollett has been accused of allegedly faking the hate crime he claimed was committed against him. He insists he is innocent, and of course we should treat him as such until proven otherwise (though the Court of Public Opinion usually works the opposite way, unfortunately). However, the damage has already been done for Smollett, who has been dropped from the remainder of season five of Empire.

Predictably, he’s already become a pawn of partisan political rhetoric, an unwitting tool in the eternal, petty, public “gotcha” game played by modern media and pundits. I’ve been mulling over this situation, and found myself wondering (like many of us) why Smollett would resort to such alleged behavior, if he is indeed guilty as charged.

What follows is entirely speculation on my part. I have no idea what it’s like to be in Smollett’s situation. I’m not an actor. I’m not African American. I’m not gay. I don’t claim to know Smollett’s mind as a unique individual, and I don’t have encyclopedic knowledge of the biological and sociological roots of our habits as a species.

Still, at the same time, I am endlessly fascinated by the workings of the human mind. I’m keenly interested in the study of our behavior. I can’t help but consider Smollett’s case in the light of our current cultural context.

The Loneliness Factor

If he is guilty, could Smollett have been motivated by loneliness? Many would-be experts, including a US senator and a former Surgeon General, are alerting us to a veritable “epidemic” of isolation. It’s a strange irony to consider: in a “hyperconnected” age facilitated by the most advanced communication technology ever invented, why is loneliness still a problem?

Many culprits have been identified as sources of modern loneliness:

Transient Socioeconomic Structures

When the workforce trend shifted away from the “stay at one job until you retire” reality of the past, this also took with it a significant source of social connection. Think of how often modern workers change jobs, and the coworker relationships that are ended as a result. When you start a new position, you must not only learn new routines, processes, and skills. You must also navigate a company’s existing social environment to “find your place” and create new connections.

What about the descent of that former staple of the “American dream,” home ownership? With the decline of the widespread ability to own, the relative affordability of renting can go hand-in-hand with a more frequent change of address, as people are often forced by rising costs to seek cheaper roofs to dwell under.

All of this lends a disconcerting, stressful transience to modern life.

Ideological Divides

Political hacks have been blamed for ramping up ideological rhetoric over the last couple decades. What better way to solidify a party’s voting base than by whipping them into a zealous frenzy driven by fear? This can be accomplished by turning political opponents into existential threats. When an ideology becomes your very identity, anyone questioning your beliefs isn’t just someone who disagrees with you; they become “a danger to your way of life.”

This tactic has had the unfortunate side effect of creating a divisive sociopolitical gang mentality.

The Island Illusion

Today, we have access to such convenience and abundance, we have duped ourselves into thinking we don’t need the level of community and cooperation that was necessary throughout most of human history. This fallacy has caused us to lose connection with each other.

To some extent, we all suffer from an internal dissonance that is tearing us apart: our rational minds tell us we’re self-sufficient, but our instincts crave social interaction. Fortunately, the communal instinct tends to win out in times of tragedy. Unfortunately, it’s a sad state of affairs if we need disasters to bring us back together.

When infrastructure fails or man-made crises arise, we still fall back on the kindness of our fellow human beings. It’s just a shame it takes “bad things” to break the illusion we’re all islands unto ourselves.

Unsocial Media

Then there’s the irony of supposedly “social” media. Are we really keeping in touch with people if we throw likes on their vacation photos but never see them in person? Or are we waking up to the realization that human relationships do—and should—require more work for them to be genuine?

Combating Loneliness

All of the above are just a few factors that contribute to loneliness. This epidemic is strongly correlated with public health issues like suicide and drug abuse.

You’re probably wondering what all this has to do with Jussie Smollett’s case. Again, I don’t know the details of his life, but I’m wondering if some of the common social pressures mentioned above have impacted him. Fame doesn’t necessarily inoculate someone against loneliness.

Indeed, fame adds another set of potentially isolating pitfalls. Jussie might have struggled with the fickle “cult” of celebrity. Could concerns about his level of renown driven him to stage a crime in a bid to boost his name recognition? Fame comes with its own insidious variety of loneliness. Jussie could be another victim of celebrity’s paradoxical swirl of isolation and lack of privacy. What is it like to have the “surface adoration” of multitudes but realize they don’t know you on a real, deep level?

Again, this is all speculation, but I bring it up because we shouldn’t ignore the artificial and insidious pressures of modern society on the human mind.

So, what can we do to combat loneliness? I’d like to hear your ideas. For my part, I believe the first step is to acknowledge we all need to be mindful of the effect of social pressures on our well-being, and the well-being of others. It’s not enough to just worry about ourselves. This epidemic needs to be addressed in a way that is the antithesis of loneliness: cooperation between as many of us as possible.

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