Falling with the Stars

[vovat]

I've been thinking I should write something about the treatment of celebrities in our culture, but I'm not really sure where to begin. So I'll just start with something I heard recently, about how Britney Spears left her kids in the car while shopping for chandeliers. You can't make that kind of thing up. And that's kind of significant, because a lot of celebrity gossip is the kind of stuff you probably COULD make up. Just have a hat full of celebrity names, and another of actions such as:

...is romantically involved with [pick another celebrity name].
...has broken up with [pick another celebrity name].
...has a feud with [pick another celebrity name].
...had a nervous breakdown.
...had a kid, and named him/her [choose random word from dictionary].
...is addicted to [choose substance from hat #3], and was in rehab for [one-digit integer] days.

Now that I think about it, the Britney story has kind of a Mad Libs quality to it as well: "Britney Spears left her kids in the car while shopping for [plural noun]." And if you're one of those people who always fills in "boobs" for the plural nouns, keep in mind that she'd already gone shopping for those about ten years ago.

One thing I wonder is how many of the celebrity goings-on that the tabloids gossip about are really unique to celebrities. I mean, we ordinary people scoff at celebrities for having marriages that last less time than we wait for our orders at the Burger King drive-thru, but aren't there also plenty of unsuccessful marriages among non-celebrities as well? The main difference might be that most less famous people can't afford the divorce proceedings. Which brings me to another point as far as rich celebrities go, and that's why they don't use their money to avoid unsavory situations. I'm not talking about buying their way out of prison (which I'm sure many of them do), but, like, why does Britney insist on raising her kids negligently when she could hire a nanny? Why does Paris Hilton drive drunk without a license when she could hire a chauffeur (or, failing that, a taxi)? And I'm much more sympathetic to people developing drug and alcohol habits when those things are all that get them through the day. Money can't buy you happiness, but it CAN buy ways to stave off boredom and depression that DON'T typically result in serious physical and mental health hazards. Unfortunately (or fortunately, to those people who thrive on tales of celebrity stupidity), I think a lot of the rich and famous just think money can buy them more booze and more potent drugs.

It also seems like every female celebrity, and some of the male ones as well, are sold as sex objects even if they're not really that attractive. There are exceptions, and I'm a firm believer in the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but when Meg Ryan can show up on magazine covers in provocative poses, it's apparent that their standards aren't all that high. They also all think they can start their own clothing lines. Not that I think fashion design is a particularly respectable field anyway, but it really doesn't take much to be a designer these days, does it?

Comments

No learning curve

[bec-87rb.livejournal.com]

Ms. Spears and Ms. Hilton behave this way because they had no role models of how responsible adults behave; basically, they raised themselves, resulting in a weird Lord-of-Flies soap-opera lifestyle.

No one, when they were attaining majority, modeled self-restraint, putting the welfare of others first, or delaying gratification. How could they have any idea that stuff actually exists when they have never seen in with their own eyes?

Also, they both indulge liberally in recreational consciousness-alteration via drugs, booze and orgiastic sex. This keeps reality from getting too close to them, and, unfortunately, bumping up against reality is what teaches us how to behave responsibly, and that certain actions cause certain bad results.

Poor things. They are like some horrific insane Skinnerian child-rearing experiment. They probably make Brittany sleep on a wire facsimile of her mother.

Re: No learning curve

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, while I don't have any actual evidence of this, I get the impression that Britney is raising her kids pretty much the same way she was raised. But her parents weren't famous, and hence weren't subject to the same scrutiny.

Also, they both indulge liberally in recreational consciousness-alteration via drugs, booze and orgiastic sex. This keeps reality from getting too close to them

I can think of plenty of ways to escape from reality without drinking, snorting, or ingesting anything, though. You could question why, when reality consists of access to millions of dollars and practically no obligations, you would WANT to escape from it. But I think it's pretty much the case that everyone wants to get away from the mundane sometimes, even if what's mundane for you is someone else's fantasy. Besides, some celebrities probably suffer from various forms of depression, which result more from brain chemistry than from circumstances. So I don't begrudge anyone wanting to escape, just the ways in which many people choose to do it.

Re: No learning curve

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

This is phrased fabulously-- if I belonged to one of those communities that quotes people because they're cool, I'd quote you. But I don't, so you'll just have to appreciate the sentiment.