Friday, August 14, 2009

So, who am I to judge?

Was watching Entertainment Tonight in glorious HD in the middle of the night. Truly HD is the only way to watch Mary Hart and that steaming pile of faux-important celebrity worshipping tripe masquerading as hard-hitting journalism (have you seen the way they present the Michael Jackson story?)

I'm finding it hard to care about celebrities these days because they just seem so incredibly stupid. Do I can that Gordon Ramsay, who must be one of the worst human beings alive, is faced with bankrupcy? A man who has made is money insulting, screaming at and reducing people to tears might lose it all?

Do I care that another not-a-thought-in-her-pretty-little-head "actress" has had nude photos she took of herself leaked on to the internet? What did she think was going to happen when these photos were taken? Seriously? I think young celebs should have to take a course in "Just 'cause it seems like a good idea at the time doesn't mean it is."

The problem is I think that there are some very real lessons that young and not-so-young people can learn from the missteps of the rich and famous. And perhaps the most important of those messages is this: your actions, even if you think they are private and secret, have consequences; you have to thinnk about the things you do. But that message never quite becomes the focus of the story for an industry that needs celebrity scandal to survive.

1 comment:

Tom said...

I'd never'a pegged you for an ET fan, Mike!! :)

Famous people are the focus not just of admiration, which carries its own caveats, but a whole lot of ambitious manipulation. Out of every hundred people trying to influence them in one way or the other, probably between fourty and sixty are smarter than them. ET definitely makes them all seem incredibly stupid, but I think they're mostly just normal people under greater stresses than they can handle. Not that it makes me pity them! Only I've lost some of the disgust I used to feel over celebrities.

ET, on the other hand, is still 100% disgusting.