The Met Gala, an annual fundraising event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York, invites famous actors and actresses, artists, designers, internet personalities, and even athletes to walk the steps of the Met in usually very elaborate themed costumes.
Some of the most iconic past Met Gala themes include “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” (2022), “Camp: Notes on Fashion” (2019), and “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” (2018).
The internet explodes with praises, critiques, and even mockeries of Met Gala attendees’ fashion every year. So why are we so obsessed with it? What are its impacts artistically, historically, socially, politically, etc.? What is its place in art history?
Personally, in my opinion a lot of the met gala's appeal can be explained by the popularity and wealth of the attendees. Which leads us to ponder the question: Why are we so obsessed with celebrities in the first place? I think that to write this topic, you would have to address this and clearly contextualise the met gala as existing within a globalised, capitalist system. This is a really interesting topic and I feel like further contextualisation would make for a more insightful article – 64bitdreaming3 years ago
To simply put it, we are obsessed with bourgeois events such as the Met Gala because we are bored and have poor time management. We don't believe that we too can achieve such heights as those invited to the gala so we resolve to the idea that they are somehow superior to us. They are GODs and we are mere mortals meant to dote and fawn over the pumps of Cardi-B or the bustier of Nicki Minaj. Society has always been like this and it will never change, the hierarchy of human beings is established to keep those up UP and those down DOWN. It's not at all about fashion or glamour it's about the variety of unhealthy addictions society continues to engage in because why would we want to obsess over things that actually matter such as global warming? Simply because it's boring? Or is it because we need distractions from the unfortunate truth about society and the world? – Seth19952 years ago
Very interesting! I think it has a lot to do with class and how unreal it seems. What is not inherently entertaining becomes so because of its detachment from the common experience. – Anna Samson2 years ago
Fashion is exciting! I think we take interest in or obsess over the fashion at the Met Gala because it's themed. We get excited at seeing how our favorite celebrities interpreted the theme through fashion. Sometimes we just want to have a good laugh or just deepen our admiration for a certain person. – Laurika Nxumalo2 years ago