My thoughts on…celebrity obsession
July 4th 2007 -
Why are people so obsessed with celebrities? Really? I started wondering about this after the whole Paris Hilton media frenzy the other day, which I wanted to post about, but changed my mind in protest to the ridiculous amount of attention she was getting. I mean her release was even covered on Bloomberg! Bloomberg! I know what Paris ate, where she stayed, what she wore, etc after she came out, but I don’t know the names of the terrorists involved in the recent attack on London! Whew! Just had to get that out of my system. What good is a blog if you cant use it to rant, huh? And no Madbull, I am not a fan of Paris Hilton. I am the anti-fan. But back to the post? Why do people waste so much time following up of the lives of celebrities? Buying their merchandise, watching their crappy reality shows, watching E!, reading US Weekly, logging on to TMZ.com and other celebrity media sources.
Isn’t it enough that they have good looks, money, fame, and power. Do they really need your admiration too? Plus nowadays celebrities aren’t celebrities anymore. They don’t have to accomplish anything to gain a following. In the days of Marilyn Munroe, you had to be something special to be called a celebrity. You had to earn it. I wouldn’t have minded celebrity obsession back then. As such, there were about a dozen real celebrities at that time. Nowadays, all you need to do is make a single movie, be on a reality show, or be a rich, young party girl (preferably blonde), and you’re in. The media makes celebrities nowadays, not Hollywood. I believe that people keep up with celebrities in order to forget, if even for a moment, the pathetic monotony of their so-called lives. They want to get near the glitz and the glamour of the beautiful people, the people everyone wants to be like, the people whose every move makes headlines, the people who can spend your entire year’s salary without an afterthought. Doesn’t matter that the vast majority of these people aren’t worth emulating, and would be shunned if they didn’t have any money. As long as your name is on enough people’s lips long enough, people can’t get enough of you.
People are so obsessed with celebrities that it has even become a disease. Actually, it’s one of those fake ones, like “Phantom Ring Syndrome” or “Restless Leg Syndrome.” It’s called CWS, or “Celebrity Worship Syndrome”, and it causes depression, addiction and self-image problems. I’ve discovered a medication to deal with this disorder. It’s called Ghetalyphe, and is sold anywhere people socialize. Others have cashed in on people’s obsession. The most obvious example are the paparazzi. As for me, this obsession is more of an annoyance than anything else. I’m watching CNN exepcting to hear about some war overseas and I hear about who’s the new it-couple. People, here’s a thought. If you spent a fraction of the time you now spend keeping up with celebs and actually worked on improving your lot in life, maybe you would some glitz and glamour of your own, instead of hoping that some of Jessica Alba or whichever celeb you shamelessly follow will rub off on you. And one other thing, many of these celebrities are not really happy. don’t let their on-camera smiles fool you. Most are dying inside. Why do you think many of them use drugs? I guess we all need a little escape huh?
P.S. Happy Fourth of July to all my American readers! Now pig out on hot dogs and get even fatter!
Jdid Says:
July 4th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
well said
Abeni Says:
July 4th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
maybe to escape from everyday life.Was on Fox a moment ago and there was Paris..ughhhhhh
Gordon Swaby Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 12:14 am
Hmmm…it’s weird a made a post similar to this, and whoppie a few days later i find a post about it on your blog. You sure you didn’t get the celebrity obsession idea from me?
tdb Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Restless Legs Syndrome, very contrary to your suppositions, is a real neurological disorder.
Check your info first.
marangand Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I totally agree with you…When i heard one reproter ask “where she changed into her street clothes” i was like WTF!!!!!! does it matter where she changed!! but guess what, the sad fact is that news like that sells papers and increases ratings …so it will not end anytime soon.
Stunner Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I ask the same question myself Leon! I just can’t understand it.
Leon Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Great minds think alike Gordon!
just me Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
I haven’t a clue myself as to what makes a celebrity a celebrity anymore. But then I’m old as dirt. Sometimes I think people just want to escape their own lives, and follow someone else’s instead, which is a very sad way to live. But who in their right mind would want to be like Paris Hilton?
Followed you here from enemy’s blog. Like it. Like the post about the porn pizza, too. Wish I had thought of it.
bobby Says:
July 5th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
@ just me: I would, minus every thing else but the money. LOL …. Leon you got it right …was worried for ya a minute though in your last post ….. ppl just damn bored ….haven’t they ever heard about blogging
Leon Says:
July 6th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
@tdb: Yeah, it’s a “disorder” just because some neurologists in cahoots with big pharma said so. When people start getting seriously hurt by RLS, I’ll believe it. By the way, which drug company paid you to say that?
Clay Says:
July 9th, 2007 at 11:23 am
I could care less about celebrities except for will their next movie be worth $9.50 admission?
Professor Zero Says:
August 7th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Funny post, and true! And nice blog in general - found it through Philp’s. Cheers.
Teri Says:
August 9th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Does anyone else find it alarming that so many people fail to realize that these stories are just GOSSIP and instead think these are NEWS STORIES. To make matters worse, we seem to be most interested in celebrities who are best known for being stupid, trashy, anorexic and addicted.
Why aren’t women like Winona LaDuke, Zainab Salbi, and Tammy Duckworth making the front pages instead? Why aren’t Americans talking about intelligent women who are working their tails off (instead of showing their tails off) to make the world a better place?