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Celebrity gossip clouds the minds of the masses
BY LAURA DISANTO
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
ASSOCIATEIATED PRESS
Have you ever noticed while watching CNN that not only does the news channel cover the important topics of our nation, but it also covers news about celebrities? While reporting about the war, our economy or politics, they also report about Britney’s lack of motherly instincts or Lindsey’s umpteenth time in rehab. Is this really considered news?
America’s love of celebrity gossip has grown out of control, especially within the last couple years with the many celebrity deaths, rehab stints and the ever-popular pregnancies. Not only do we stay informed of the stars’ every move, we stop paying attention to what is really happening in our nation. Instead, we coin terms for admired celebrity couples, like
“Brangelina” or “Tomkat,” but can’t explain what is currently going on in the Middle East. We spend an average of $4 on a magazine, which is usually inaccurate, just to get a little snippet of someone else’s life that is full of fame and glamour, which some believe is more important than other current events.
But all this worshipping isn’t because we are superficial. An article from Propagandamatrix.com states that this celebrity worshipping is just a “diversion in the same way that Golden Age movie stars like Jean Harlow, Clark Gable and Bette Davis [were] during the Great Depression.” Simon Dumenco, a columnist for Folio, believes that magazines are flourishing just like antidepressants are and for one reason: “They dull our emotional pain.” They are also, according to Dumenco, “the magazine equivalent to crack.”
Taking all this information into consideration, one question begs asking: Is celebrity worshipping a craze, or is it just becoming part of the norm? Evolutionary biologists say that it is natural to emulate celebrities and that identifying with famous people is a part of human development. James Houran, a psychologist from the Southern Illinois School of Medicine, thinks that a certain degree of admiration is normal because “celebrities can inspire people of all ages to be better than they are.”
But even considering this, I don’t think that it is right to ignore the more important current events and become engrossed with what celebrities are doing 24/7. We live in the information age. The amount of information available to the average American has reached a new height, and the thought of wasting precious time on the intake of garbage like celebrity gossip makes me sick. It’s time that people stop allowing themselves to be indoctrinated by People magazine and start exercising their brains as well as their privilege to learn about things that actually matter.
