So, to quote the Britney Spears song, "You want a piece of me?" That is a question that all celebrities ask the stalkers that follow them, deceptively known as the paparazzi. They follow these starts like a pack of guerillas, waiting for the next scoop. It's distasteful, it's mean, and, most of all, it's pathetic. Do we have nothing better to do than obsess over the everyday lives of these "celebrities"? Doctors, researchers, lawyers, teachers... none of them get the recognition that they deserve, yet these actors and musicians make millions because of their "image". I really don't get it.
So, the other night I was watching Showbiz Tonight on CNN and was appaled at what I saw. There are starving children all over the world and thousands dying from wars and AIDS--- but we sit and watch Michael Lohan talking about his daughter's life and why she is hanging out with "bad influences". Why does he waste our time with this nonsense-- it's his kid!! He should just talk to her. Just because we watch Mean Girls doesn't mean that we care who she was out drinking with yesterday.
And Heath Ledger (RIP)--- What gives us the right to have intimate knowledge of his private life? People OD every day, but it's not on the news! Let the poor man's family mourn. He has a daughter that will have to grow up knowing that the entire world was whispering gossip about her daddy after he died. No child should have to live with that knowledge. Oh, and about that "possible daughter" in Australia. The mom denies it, most of Heath's family denies it, and everyone should just leave them alone.
And I don't care that Beyonce and Jay-Z got married, that Hannah Montana is writing a memoir, or that Janet Jackson may be gay (Thanks AOL "News")!
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Sadly, the "news" will dish out whatever sells. People eat up that stuff. The news isn't going to feature information about the AIDS kids or people starving somewhere, because that's not what the majority of people want to see.
The news industry is a business. It'll go where the money is. Unfortunately, most of the money is in sneaking around, trying to get "the scoop" on celebrities.
We should point fingers at the consumers, not the news industry. If suddenly the consumers were more interested in the actual news-worthy stuff going on in the world, I'm sure that's where the emphasis will shift to. Until then, we'll continue to be fed the stuff the majority of the population loves... the gossip.
Thanks to the sane among us who can recognize the fact that celebrities aren't that great just because their celebrities. Stalk a celebrities because they've made something of themself outside of drinking, drugs and sex (like say... Reese Witherspoon...NOT Paris Hilton) and then maybe they can be in the limelight 24/7.
[Krst]