Which “Grey’s Anatomy” star came out of the closet? What is Angelina Jolie doing now? Who is trying to adopt an African baby this week?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Inane Hollywood Gossip, the game show where you can actually get dumber. Now before we answer some burning questions, let’s meet our contestants.
First we have Kari from southern California. Kari enjoys shopping at the mall, spending time with her sorority sisters and volunteering to feed the homeless.
Kari: O – M – G! Like, hi!
Nice to have you here, Kari. Next, we have suburban housewife Dusty. She enjoys cooking for her husband and selling real estate.
Dusty: Nice to be here.
All right, and finally we have Peter who enjoys being metrosexual.
Peter: Hiya.
Okay! Let’s begin shall we?
Please, no. Let’s not begin. In fact, let’s please take a much-needed examination of the state of celebrity worship.
Celebreality.
Knowing what’s going on with your favorite show or movie star is one thing, but there comes a point when enough is enough. Emulating Nicole Richie is undoubtedly a bad idea.
Okay, so what’s the harm in celebrity gossip? Knowing about Paris and Nicole’s feud is unimportant but not a bad thing. Taking an interest in pop culture might not educate or enrich one’s life, but it’s not detrimental. So then, why so glum Michael?
It’s self-perpetuating stereotypes. That’s the point of this. It’s tween girls that find their identity by copying someone else’s. It’s guys that play Madden NFL because that’s what guys do. It seems like celebrity obsession has grown to new heights in the last few years. Bradgelina, TomKat and Vaughniston are all well-known names to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the last year.
Go to the mall, and I’m certain you’ll see at least one group of girls wearing American Eagle jeans and Abercrombie hoodies with bleach-blond hair. At the University it’s better but still bad. Stroll down 13th Avenue on any given morning, and you’re likely to see at least a few girls in 7 for all mankind jeans, hoodie vests with fur and a pair of UGGs (or some other type of leather boots).
Fashion is fine and dandy, but emulating fashion and changing your personality to fit what is fashionable are two very different things. For most people the two go hand-in-hand.
It’s hard to break out of the box of acceptability in the world we live in. It’s even harder when you’ve already presented your façade to others. But for once, step back, turn of your Sidekick or RAZR and ask yourself who you really are and where you get your personality from. If your answer is Meredith Grey you’re in troubled waters.
Really? Really.
North Korea with Nukes? Nah. Genocide in Darfur? No thanks. Tara Reid having a breast reduction? Yes, please.
Not only does celebrity worship make you less you, it loosens the focus on the things that actually matter in life. Okay, the North Korea situation is out of your hands, but your relationships aren’t. I’ve been around people that can’t talk about anything else but what Tom Cruise is up to these days.
Pink so illustriously paints this picture in her song “Stupid Girls”: “They travel in packs of two or three, with their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny tees. Where, oh where, have the smart people gone?” She sums it up well ending with, “I’m so glad that I’ll never fit in, that will never be me. Outcasts and girls with ambition, that’s what I want to see. Disasters all around, world despaired, their only concern: Will they fuck up my hair?”
Indeed.
With so much more important things going on I’m glad to know that most Americans would rather pick up a magazine with Suri Cruise than pick one up dealing with the state of AIDS in Africa.
Oh and by the way, the answers to the lead paragraph are: George, hit and run and Madonna.
[email protected]