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Originally Posted by Scruffydog777
I think this is a subject that Bamagirl may know a few things about but she's on a trip and might not be able to respond for a few days.
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I have not read that particular book but it looks interesting. I do happen to have some experience, from several different perspectives, with the phenomenon of social climbing.
It is most definitely true that social climbers will adjust their habits, hang-outs and priorities to fit the particular venue they are attempting to enter or to get close to a particular individual. It is often becoming party of a celebrity’s inner circle that is the goal, but it can also be a private person--a very wealthy or influential business person, for example, or a member of a private club they wish to join or someone on the board of directors of a company they wish to do business with. That is a mixture of social climbing with business. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between the two.
The whole idea is to become close to a particular person, or part of a social sphere, that one does not automatically have access to. This happens a lot in some societies where "family background" is more important to certain members of the society than money or fame or talent. In that case, social climbers who wish to be accepted will marry into a particular family or attempt to join a college fraternity or sorority whose members are people they wish to be accepted by, or join a church or club or charitable committee that their target group or person is part of or sponsors.
Most celebrities are well aware of social climbers and, while many ultimately accept some as friends, they also never forget that, but for their position or bloodline or wealth or fame, that person would not be interested in them. Using Diane, the Princess of Wales as an example again: one of her great tragedies was not knowing who she could trust--who was really a friend who cared about her, and who just wanted to bask in her reflected glory, so to speak. This is why members of the royal family rely on close friends from childhood and often do not have, as true confidants, many others they meet in later years.
But that is not to say celebrities don't get something in return--often this is exactly what they have been seeking (though not desiring it to the exclusion of other types of relationships, of course). Many of them--especially the more philanthropic-minded-- enjoy the ability to influence people...to help them...to make a difference in their lives. Many of them genuinely and honestly appreciate their fans and admirers and understand that, but for those fans, they would not have achieved their successful positions.
People who rise to fame later in life often wisely cling to their early, legitimate friends and--though developing many other friendships and relationships through life--never completely let their guards down with anyone who didn't “know them when," as the saying goes.
This is one reason so many celebrities and other public figures (such as powerful politicians or leaders of industry or the children of the very rich) often seem to be so clueless about the world. They are surrounded by sycophants who tell them only what they want to hear and, after awhile, the bubble they live in becomes all they know and the usual checks and balances of normal life and relationships don't exist.
It happens to people who are wealthy, as well--even if they are not at all famous. They can be bitterly disappointed to realize, if they lose their wealth, that many of the people they considered friends were just hangers-on.
I think that is why many celebrities, like Alizeé, wisely cling to their privacy. They might truly value their fans--might truly enjoy mingling with them and associating with them and, sometimes, becoming genuine friends with some of them. I would actually be surprised if Alizeé has not made friends with fans along the way. But they also know how easy it can be to get carried out of a world of normalcy into that fake world. So, they protect their private lives from too many social climbers and too many yes-men.