US Culture is Very Narcissistic

[Ninja_pig]

Today I watched the performance of American figure skater Alyssa Liu, which was breathtaking. Liu has become an instant celebrity, owing to her winning the US's first gold metal in 24 years for figure skating, her charisma, her beauty, and her unique hairstyle.

What caught my attention, though, was they types of comments about here I have seen on the internet. People seem to be most interested in the fact that she returned to figure skating after a temporary retirement, had a tragic backstory, and was skating 'just for the love of preforming'. I believe that she loves to preform, but she obviously has done those triple spins tens of thousands of times, which can be attributed to nothing other than thousands and thousands of hours of practice, probably mostly alone. She must have wanted to win.
 
However, her determination and hard work have been heavily subverted in  favor of the new narrative: internet culture now focuses on her personality, her looks, her story. People are not satisfied with her being a magnificent skater. They want her to be an angel. An ikon of glory and personal fulfillment. They want her to be the princess in the fairy tale, the shining star that everyone looks towards. They have turned her into a myth, and it has hardly even been 2 days since her victory.
 
We do this because we idolize the individual above everything else in American culture. Individual success and happiness is the highest value, so our most successful and happiest individuals are those who receive our admiration, and recognition. We turn real people into mythical heroes in order to turn the world into one of shining individuals rather than the collective.

I think that our narcissistic culture manifests in how we prop up and glorify celebrities, how we love superhero movies, how we look up to and aspire to be like start athletes.

[Oeaohoo]

Average American woman:

Average American man: