Computer science freshman Aashi Sharma said the physical appearance of some celebrities led her to develop an interest in their work.

“Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson … Around that time that everyone had that Timothee Chalamet phase, I was really into his work,” Sharma said. “At first, everyone saw him on TikTok and was obsessed … but once I watched his movies, I also really liked how he performed.”

Looking back, Sharma said, she finds the hyper-fixation strange. In many fan edits, scenes where the actors’ characters were injured were fawned over, which was, “a bit freaky," she said.

Sharma added that constantly viewing celebrities through a hypersexual lens can detract from their work and undermine their credibility.

“It’s just uncomfortable and unnecessary, and really has nothing to do with their job,” Sharma said.

During the 2022 Academy Awards, host Regina Hall did a skit where she called Bradley Cooper, Simu Liu, Tyler Perry and Timothee Chalamet on stage to “COVID swab the back of your mouth with (her) tongue” and “some other freaky stuff.”

Comparative culture and politics sophomore Natalie Rehkemper said she thought the display was inappropriate.

“I thought it was actually very hard to watch,” Rehkemper said. “There’s a very distinct difference between people taking videos … out of context and editing them versus someone who’s actually in a situation where they’re uncomfortable.”

More recently, “The Last of Us” actor Pedro Pascal has become an Internet sensation for his looks and “provocative” interviews; Pascal has been thirst-trapped to the point that it became the focus of one of his skits while hosting SNL.

However, Rehkemper said male celebrities like Pascal have more control over the degree of their objectification than women.

“In some of these interviews where Pedro Pascal feeds into it — where he goes, ‘I’m your daddy,’ that’s eventually his choice,” Rehkemper said. “Men can be selective. They can be like, 'I’m an artist … or I can be a sex symbol.' They don’t have to be both if they don’t want to, whereas women pretty much do.”

German and secondary education senior Mitchell Ernst said the intentions of sexualizing male and female celebrities feel different. For women, he said, the intent is to treat them like objects in an abusive context.

“I think the sexualization of men is often a fascination, (like) ‘How’d you look so good?’” Ernst said. “(With) Pedro Pascal, you don’t not think of the project he’s been in or his great personality. But when you boil (celebrities like) Madeline Cline down to what she’s wearing that day … you’re going to forget what she’s in.”

Rehkemper said the treatment of Pascal’s co-star on “The Last of Us,” Bella Ramsey, is a prime example of men having more agency when it comes to marketing themselves.

Ramsey, who is 19, received extreme backlash and hate for her portrayal of her 14-year-old character in the show because of the way she looked.

“I thought that was absolutely atrocious,” Rehkemper said. “Sorry that this young woman doesn’t have the ‘Hollywood’ look, of like Pamela Anderson … That’s blatantly an oversexualization of children.”

Ernst said oversexualization is ultimately something celebrities may have to resign themselves to. In order to better navigate it, he said, people need to adopt an outlook that is playful rather than malicious.

Rehkemper said when discussing oversexualization among male and female celebrities, it’s important to acknowledge that it's two different conversations.

“Bringing up, 'Oh men in Hollywood are oversexualized as well,' that’s more conversation that’s only brought up to take away from (women),” Rehkemper said. “There's a huge matter of choice.”