Over the weekend pop star Britney Spears had an incident with police, was hospitalized, and visited with Dr. Phil. And the American media was there to capture ever snippet, comment, and picture possible.
Why is that Americans (myself included) so mesmerized by the rise and more importantly the fall of Stars? What keeps us glued to our television screens during Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, or some other entertainment newscast? Why are gossip magazines a million dollar business?
Perhaps it is because on some level we are envious. Hollywood A-lister's make more money that most of us, their houses are bigger, their cars nicer and the overall style of life doesn't compare to ours. And because we are envious, part of us are eager to see it all come apart.
I'm as guilty as the next person. When Britney Spears began her downward spiral, I remarked to one girlfriend "I knew she was white trash from the beginning". I guess I forgot that when Britney popped onto the scene without her first hit, I rushed to the store to snatch up the CD.
I admit I've read the blog entries bashing Britney, I smirked at the pics of her from the MTV video music awards. Yes, I was so petty that I took some semblance of joy from this.
But I have finally reached my limit - tonight as I rocked my nephew to sleep - I thought about Britney's two boys. Two young sons, who for the moment, have no contact with their mother. That simple thought made Britney less of star and more of a person to me.
I do not know the reasons behind Britney's antics (and that is for lack of a better term). However, I do know that it is easy to slide into depression, then addiction and very had to climb out of that hole. And that's without the constant public eye upon you.
So now, I will stop being a Britney (or any other troubled celebrity) basher. I will remember that they are people too.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Celebrity Trainwrecks
Posted by Kim @ Kim and Mikey at 7:46 PM
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3 comments:
I never was a Britney fan, not because I had an opinion on her personal life, but because her music never interested me.
I find her current situation very sad. I think that she's slid into a hole that she can't get out of and I agree that it doesn't help that she's hounded by the press.
But then, I'm not sure that she doesn't also WANT the press attention. She doesn't seem to do well with being OUT of the limelight, perhaps because she's spent so much time being the center of the attention.
For her sake, I think she needs to go underground for awhile to get her life back together and spend less time worrying about how her career will be impacted. At this point, that is the least of her worries.
Just my two cents.
The chaplain on my ship, who was then my roommate, loaned me a book called The Sibling Society by Robert Bly. At first I paged through it to be polite, but then found it fascinating.
The book argues that in the age of mass media, we as a civilization have decided it's greater to be famous than to be virtuous, kind, courageous, or just.
Every time I hear the latest round of Oops, I did it again from Britney, I think of that book.
The book sound very interesting. I have added it to my reading list. I will be sure to compose a post about it when I finish.
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