When my older sister was a kid, she'd blast Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne in the bathroom. She'd hang up posters of the Olsen twins on her wall, and read Seventeen magazine with her friends after school. This was in the early 00's. My sister grew up, matured, got a job, and moved on from this paradigm as a young millennial. She accepted the reality of the situation. You can say that celebrity worship has been around forever, but here's the kicker -- these celebrities always seemed miles and miles away, and never within reach.

The proliferation of the Internet has warped our sense of proximity. My sister, and women around the world, always knew that these opportunities were never truly possible. But celebrity culture, and Hollywood culture at large, has become Western culture. Everybody is the main character, everybody can be their own celebrity in as quickly as a few weeks or months. No matter how average you might be, the air of possibility of what you could be makes you think you can get it. Because of the Internet, everything seems so much closer than it truly is.

For men, the dynamic is the same, but different in their pursuit of women. TikTok and Instagram make it seem like these girls are posting these photos for you. You take your fantasies home with you from school and from work, and develop a false sense of reality that all these women and opportunities are within your grasp.

The truth is that only above-average people, and the occasional lucky winner will ever really have access to these opportunities. We live our lives according to our perceived probability of success. As long as men and women stay addicted to the Internet without confronting the failures of life and accepting reality, frustration and fallout will only continue to mount.