George Clooney’s in the news again, this time it’s about his wedding to Amal Almuddin. The guy has everything; awards, women, wealth, fame, you name it, and throw in a idyllic mansion on Lake Cuomo. Why don’t we feel envious, jealous, or just outright hate him?
For one thing, we’re hard-wired to be attracted to good-looking people. Clooney has the symmetry of features women get those “feel-good brain chemicals” about.
Eye-tracking studies have shown both men and women tend to focus longer on attractive people; women, especially, when it’s Clooney.
Over the years Clooney has dated attractive, sexy, and often famous women like Charleze Theron, Lucy Lui, and Rene Zellweger, which gets him points with male fans. These ex-girlfriends never have anything bad to say about him, even after the breakups, which gets him points with women, and defies all rational thought.
Whenever we see him off camera, he wins us over with his charm, with the way he handles fame, and with his leading man good looks. He comes across as witty, knowledgeable, and self-deprecating. He doesn’t appear to seek out the spotlight, yet it finds him.
We never hear about him getting DUI’s or shoplifting or ending up naked in a neighbor’s bed. When we do hear about him, he might be campaigning for a respected politician or working on behalf of worthy humanitarian goals world-wide, like sending aid to Darfur.
Also, we tend to judge people by who they associate with. Clooney’s been friends with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, Bono, Steven Spielberg and President Obama.
We could hate him for this, but we don’t, except maybe for most of the Republican party.
Another thing about Clooney, he didn’t really become famous until he was 35 playing Dr. Doug Ross, a compassionate, caring emergency room doctor on ER. He paid his dues. There was no “instant success,” to resent, even though there could have been, as he’s the nephew of Rosemary Clooney.
We saw him on the TV show ER for 15 seasons. His character on the show, much like he is in real life, was charming, highly intelligent, and compassionate. So we invited him into our living rooms for all those years, and for that, he feels familiar, like an old friend.
When celebrities like Clooney have stars on the Hollywood walk of Fame, or their handprints imbedded in concrete at Grauman’s, it’s as if they become the American version of “immortal.” There is a mythology built up around them, they are like royalty, or even – our secular version of mythological or religious icons.
Clooney’s peers in the entertainment industry appear to respect him. He’s been nominated for seven Academy Awards. He won for “Syriana.”
When our favorite actors win awards like Oscars and Golden Globes, we feel as if we’ve won, too. When they walk down the red carpet, looking gorgeous, vicariously, we also feel good.
This phenomenon is called BIRGing, “basking in reflected glory.” We feel social approval by affiliating ourselves with another individual’s “glory,” and, in the process, we also feel we’ve we share in their success. We “birg” when our home team wins a football game, or our son makes the “honor roll at school.” A similar brain mechanism involved in delusions fuels our quest for reflected glory through surrogates like successful actors.
We’re not only right there with him when Clooney wins an award, we’re basking in the “glory” of his 13 million-dollar wedding in Venice. Since Clooney is our “old friend” of over 25 years, and he’s one of our favorite actors, we get to enjoy the vicarious excitement of rubbing shoulders with the guests, including Bono, Cindy Crawford and Bill Murray.
The fact that his bride, Almuddin, is an Oxford-educated international lawyer, who defends famous progressive crusaders for human rights, only reinforces our belief that he is compassionate and generous.
We could hate the man for being so perfect, for living the “American Dream,” but he feels like an old friend who’s paid his dues, and who is so charming, handsome and talented, that we don’t. Well, most of us. What could he do better? Nothing, except, maybe fall into a scandal and beg for forgiveness on national TV. If there’s one thing Americans truly love, it’s a comeback story.
For more information on Psychology and Media Arts:
Image credit: George Clooney Entertaining His Admirers – Josh Jensen 2009: CC By 2.0
Image credit: George Clooney – TIFF ’09 – Courtney Csztova 2009: CC By 2.0
Image credit: Grauman’s Chinese Theater – Oliver Bruchez 2008: CC By 2.0