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There are many guilty pleasures in life.... For some people it's chocolate, for some it is sex, some people enjoy a cocktail, or a smoke.... But it seems today more than ever, most people's guilty pleasure has become CELEBRITY GOSSIP. I'm not going to lie, I also fall victim to this guilty pleasure. I love celebrity gossip. I can't seem to get enough of it. TMZ, Perez Hilton, US Weekly, Star Magazine, the list goes on and on.
Why are we so obsessed with celebrity gossip? We have so many real problems in the world. Our economy is getting worse and worse. Stocks are falling in every industry. People are losing their jobs and their homes. America's heroes are either dead or still over seas. Gay people in California are still fighting for their rights to be married. There are millions of crimes being committed everyday.
So what is with the fascination with celebrity gossip? Why do we care about Jessica Simpson's weight problem, Michael Phelps smoking pot, or OctoMom? What is so interesting about who is dating who?! I know, like most people, I can't wait to see who is wearing what. Deep down inside we all love to see when stars are falling. There are stars we hate, and stars we LOVE to HATE.
Before, we would just gossip in High School. Who is Johnny Football hero dating? What is the head cheerleader wearing to the prom? Who is running for class president? Gossip was so important at that time in our lives, and then we grew up, moved on, and realized that there is a big world out there, outside of the kids who gossiped about in school. Now, more than ever the media has made stars lives more and more public knowledge. We see them on TMZ, and Perez Hilton everyday. It's like high school all over again. We read about what's going on in their lives, and we talk shit about them on blog sites or leave shitty comments on the gossip sites. Why do we care?
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Nice topic of discussion.
ReplyDeleteWe're breed to view a "STAR'S" success as the ultimate lifestyle. I mean look at the word STAR....we call these people STARS!!! Lol.
So any glimpse of failure reminds us that these people are human just like you and me. We take comfort in knowing that they AREN'T untouchable. We realize that they either were born with good looks or knew someone who knew someone. These realizations give us HOPE and remind us that we aren't so different from these "STARS".
Shows like TMZ have specialized in condensing all the dirt STARS dish out into a 30 minute segment. Perfect for those that wanna be apart of the gossip world but still occupy a normal, productive lifestyle.
Bottom line, TMZ is evil and we are evil for watching it. It exposes our disgusting nature of taking pleasure in the failures of others.
Damn, I'm evil.
Personally I enjoy the Social aspect of gathering information about the positive & negative of a real system of Stars right here on Earth. Everyday People are given oppotunities and some hath taken away. We all in one way or another strive to be granted a social welcome card with future possibilties. To be somewhere where your future seems dull and pointless to a rewarding outcome of Social understanding and keen perception is a desire so many drive themselves to be. Without the creativeness and well being of that Social System, the People have nothing to have Entertain them or Dream of being when they awake from a never ending Crisis of Solitude and Stagnantation. Regardless of Economy, we all strive to Live, Love, Laugh, Listen & Learn and the let the Internet be our University of Life! Never let them limit us of our search for true & honest answers to the History tests and lessons for our Tomorrow. Gossip so it be, a language may we understand a Network of future possibilities.
ReplyDeleteWow, pretty heavy topic and not one with a simple answer.
ReplyDeleteThis is pulling from a Business Class I took years ago that I think pertains. Our professor Mr. Richardson was talking about Stratification.
Answers.com definse "Social Stratification" as the dividing of a society into levels based on wealth or power.
There's the theme of comparing onself with the Joneses or seeing what someone else has. People, who are naturally competitive, will compare themselves to others.
To some people, they define themselves with respect to others to determine whether they're ahead, in par, or behind. Some people look at it as a way of feeling better about themselves while others seek to conform to whatever is popular.
I would claim we have what's called a "Social Economy" that people track or monitor just as they do the regular Economy. Right now, the regular Economy is said to be in Recession and moving toward a Depression.
However, if you were to ask how we know that we're in a recession and headed toward a depression, analysts would tell you to look at the "signs" regarding major companies going bankrupt, banks asking for loans, people falling behind on mortgage payments, etc.
So with a Social Economy, Celebrities would be the equivalent of major corporations. A Celebrity having a scandal that lowers the celeb's value in the eyes of the public would be like a corporation having a scandal causing people to stop buying the products.
The only difference I see between a Social Economy and the Stock Market Economy that tracks businesses is that the currency in a Social Economy takes the form of popularity. Popularity is the currency.
For example, you have developed a successful venture with Playboy as Cybergirl of the Month. So you as a corporation in the Social Economy has had your "social" shares of stock go up in price. You're now more valuable than no-name people.
Another perspective I'd give comes from working as a Spiritual Consultant in the Psychic Field. That is another world that functions on a different rules than what is seen in the Physical Plane.
It's all about reading Signs. A lot of the signs have to be read in "context." You have to read the entire sentence and the words surrounding a particular word that can have different meanings (i.e. used as a verb or noun) depending on where it is in the sentence.
Someone was asking me yesterday what my thoughts are regarding 12/21/2012. I told her that most people are just looking at that one date in the Mayan Calendar and not looking at the other dates around it. I practice Cryptology, like what you see with Robert Langdon in "Da Vinci COde," and I don't just look at one particular date. I have to put in context with what else is linked to it.
Getting back to your question about Celebrity Gossip and stratification with comparing oneself, reading Celebrities and what they do can serve as a sign of the times or allows people to gauge themselves because no one wants to be lost. People are always searching for themselves and trying to define who they are. It's human nature to lend order to chaos.
So when you read something like the incident with Chris Brown and Rihanna regarding domestic abuse, people on a certain level are comparing themselves to a Celebrity. Do they agree or disagree with what Chris Brown has done or appears to have done?
Context fits into this because if it's true that physical abuse did occur, what context was it used?
If the female was being psycho, wielding a knife, and physically attacking the male, then physical abuse would be self-defense. However, if it was defenseless female and harsh words were exchanged, does that warrant resorting to physical force in response to verbal attacks?
As for the last question, "Why do we care?" Sometimes it's just because some people's lives are more interesting than theirs. Some people don't have anything going on and are stuck in the doldrums and it's entertaining to tune in to someone else.
Some people have really boring lives. Just like in Los Angeles Commute where traffic is really slow or dull, people can't help do "rubbernecking" when they see an accident on the road. They can't help but look because it's something new or different on the road, which is their regular commute they have day in and day out.
people like to put others on a pedestal.. it gives them the power to take them off and feel like their above someone else. I don't understand how people enjoy living their lives through others.. it's delusional. more people need to take responsibility.
ReplyDelete-steve caprio