Development of Parasocial Relationships

When I read Chapter 28 and came across parasocial relationships, I was surprised that the idea actually had a name.  I think parasocial relationships are really common in our age of media.  The example of the death of Glee star Cory Monteith, is a great example cited by Griffin, Ledbetter, and Sparks (2015).  People started following Monteith on Twitter after his death, which was interpreted as a "way of expressing deep parasocial involvement with Monteith" (Griffin, Ledbetter & Sparks, 2015, p. 359).  People were saddened by Monteith's death because of their attachment to Monteith's character, Quinn, on Glee.

Parasocial relationships develop when audiences feel personally attached to a celebrity.  I think if a celebrity or character has a lot in common or connects with an audience, this will lead to a parasocial relationship.  In my own case, I have a celebrity crush on Kristen Bell.  I first started to feel attached to her since her appearance in Veronica Mars, a TV series that aired many years ago.  The show is about a teenager, Veronica Mars (Bell), who's father is a private investigator.  Veronica's best friend is murdered mysteriously and she tries her best to find out who killed her friend.  The show centers on Veronica who is a self-confident, smart, outsider in her school and uses her dad's private investigator skills to solve cases throughout the 3 seasons of when the show was aired.  The show ends after Veronica is in her sophomore year of college, which left a lot of Veronica Mars' fans unsatisfied (including myself).  A few years after the show had ended, a fan began a start up project to make a movie centering on Veronica Mars after college with Kristen Bell.  Bell loved the idea and got the idea out there that if a movie was to be made, they would need money.  Within days of the idea coming into the public eye, Veronica Mars' fans had raised over 3 million within a week for the movie.  Bell is one of my favorite actresses and so many people loved her in Veronica Mars.  People were so emotionally attached to Veronica that after the show ended, fans wanted more and they made that happen.  This is definitely an example of a parasocial relationship, resulting in fans' overwhelming support to make a movie of a beloved TV series and an admirable character.

References

Griffin, E. A., Ledbetter, A., & Sparks, G. (2015). A first look at communication theory (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

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