Does obsession create credibility?
I obsess therefore I am...
hi there,
to obsess about something adds meaning to your persona- just liking something isn’t enough these days. In order to brand yourself you gotta be obsessed with something no matter what. My whole social media is obsessed and so am I. Does being obsessive create credibility? Just obsess enough and you as well, might be an expert on something.
I have long surrendered to the reality of our society to be obsessed about anything and everything. There is no balance in what we do and like anymore. Either you are obsessed in partaking or you are obsessed with being not into it. Obsessions ultimately draw your character. I preached balance for a big part of my life, witnessing my friends being obsessive about their eating behaviors, cosmetic procedures, love life and fashion choices. It didn’t work. I cannot list one successful transformation to the land of the balanced. It’s just like more fun to be obsessed with something than just liking to do it. While I believe, I am somewhat of a balanced nature, I as well watched myself become obsessed with things more and more. While I lulled myself into a life of balance, I might’ve simply been obsessed with being the girl preaching it.
I asked the internet for a clear definition of the term “obsessed” and Oxford Languages answered: to preoccupy or fill the mind of (someone) continually and to a troubling extent. I am doing this myself to myself all the time. Aren’t we all? Every corner of the internet is obsessed with something else and while everyone follows different obsessions, it feels like we are all united in the obsession to judge whoever doesn’t obsess about the same thing as ourselves.
I read an article that was published on Vogue in October last year featuring the following headline “Is having a boyfriend embarrassing now?”. It basically questions and low-key judges women on the internet for being obsessed with their boyfriends. On the other end women start to form an obsession with not being identified as, what Chanté Joseph calls, the “boyfriend-girl”. Either way, everyone seems to be obsessed once again and it surely aims to serve the same purpose: engagement. Whether you are promoting boyfriend or live, love, laugh you want the follows- a uniting obsession in the age of social media. We are pointing fingers, judging, declaring our obsession to be THE one- yet we are all just girls on the internet trying to build character. We are playing SIMS in real life- party girl, vanilla girl, workout girl, boyfriend girl, no boyfriend girl. Whatever girl! I obsess therefore I am- something?!
People were obsessed with Timothée Chalamet until his heinous comment on the arts of ballet and opera in an interview a few weeks back. Now everyone is obsessed with hating on Timothée Chalamet. I just read The Crank newsletter “It’s not Timothée Chalamet’s fault you thought he was smart” and so should you. I was obsessed with him for 130 minutes, seven years ago in “Call me by your name”. The spark was soon gone watching an interview with him being himself, he’s just a boy ugh. Obsessions can be unstable constructs especially if build on individuals. The Swifties are so obsessed with Taylor Swift they came up with a name to be identified for their obsession. I just hope Taylor will forever hold it all together or we will have millions of ten year olds crying over their lost obsession.
I used to be obsessed with carbs- carb girl. Witnessing the protein intake trend unfold on the internet, I too am now obsessed with my protein intake and left carb land. You live and you learn or in my case just stop eating 1 kilo of pasta a week. In Ancient Greece the “Opsophagos” was a person with an obsessive desire to eat opson, which translates to relish. The most desirable opson during this time was fish and in ancient greek literature an Opsophagos is almost always a man being obsessed with fish. The protein obsession is of ancient nature which ultimately creates credibility- eat more fish.
Will people take you more seriously if you are obsessed or not at all? There are layers to obsessions. In order to be taken seriously you will need to be a longterm obsessor and limit the quantity of your obsessions for them to be of trustworthy nature. It’s like the forever fu**boy to finally fall in love, you will have a hard time believing it to be true.
Fashion month just came to an end and my Instagram right now is entirely obsessed with Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel, his first collection just landed in stores two days ago. Whatever Miu Miu did everyone seemed to be obsessed with, simply because it’s Miu Miu. I watched various people’s opinion unfold, as always and noticed the following parameters to be responsible for whether they are of fashion credibility or not to be taken serious. Big no no in the land of fashion obsession are the everywhere invited Influencers who will post stories of how obsessed they are with everything from Gucci by Demna to Chloé to Prada. It’s like they are getting paid to say it. How could you possibly be obsessed with so many different things at once. Your obsession’s credibility suffers if you are getting paid to be obsessed. Tell me is it getting paid to be obsessed or being obsessed to get paid?!
On the other side of things there is Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and her group chat collectively obsessesing over Chanel hitting Paris stores. Do I too, need a pair of Chanels for this summer? Their excitement got to me. She wrote about it on her Substack- she adds meaning to her obsession through words and more complex thoughts than a lazy Instagram story. Brain matter made Chanel matter. Even more.
Amy Francombe just wrote a newsletter on biohacking ourselves to death exploring modern longevity and the obsession with outrunning the one thing that connects us all: death. An obsession widely spread across the world wide web everyone seems to be obsessed with being injected various substances and eating twenty different supplements a day. This feels very different to being obsessed with a pair of shoes. It feels way more serious and personally I must say it almost scares me. An obsession that seems to have no limit and an example that obsessive behavior with no limitation loses its credibility at some point along the way, at least it does for me. I quote Frankenstein from my yesterdays morning read: “…how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.” We may remember this.
On a lighter note, I have a friend who used to eat sickening amounts of Haribo sweets for the most part of the eleven years that I know him- he was obsessed. His obsession branded him in a way that even though he quit eating sugar for good two years ago, I still think about him every single time I munch on gummy bears. If he was to recommend me candy I would buy it without questioning, as I trust him for his continuous obsession over a decade of consuming troubling amounts and varieties. He gained credibility, built on obsession.
While obsessions can but do not necessarily create credibility what they do install is a sense of belonging. I obsess therefore I am part of something. It creates identity and in a world full of internet characters, identity and individuality are key to stand out, to be important, to make noise and be heard. Obsess as long as you do not harm others which makes me think that the Chanel obsession might harm my bank account at some point during this summer.
What are you obsessing about atm? Tell me!!!
I will write to you soon. I promise!
Loved reading this!! I also enjoy obsessing over things even though they are often the most random and mundane items. Right now I am obsessing over grey tights a la The Row and Jil Sander just that little pop of grey, it feels really cool <333