Celebrity Gossip
A Seattle Times article this morning ("Celebrity worship serves a social and political function [~] for real") argues that America's obsession with the private lives of celebrities plays an important social role, namely that of giving us something to talk about like we used to talk about our neighbors. The cite statistics that says this particular "addiction" isn't going away.
"Gossip weeklies like "Us," "In Touch" and "Star" all report substantial increases in circulation since 2003, collectively selling about 50 percent more subscriptions and single copies in the past 2 [product] years. E! Entertainment Television (the go-to network for the latest earful on who's sleeping with whom) reports a 17 percent increase in the average number of viewers since 2001. And that is to say nothing of the gossip blogs like Gawker and Perezhilton that continue to cultivate a cult readership."
The article goes to state that even the hardcore news outlets like the New York Times are paying attention to Britney and K-Fed.
I asked this very question of my students a couple of weeks ago: why all the fuss over celebrity private lives? They gave a variety of answers: that we live vicariously through their adventure and fame, that they have want we want--money, that to read and watch news reports about famous people is "fun" and "interesting," that they "distract us from the harshness of reality," that we like to watch powerful people fail and make mistakes, and of course, there's the idea that we all need heroes, and celebrities, due to the sheer power of their media presence, fit the bill.
The Times article cites the fact that it makes for easy conversation at parties and around the proverbial water cooler, connecting us, giving us a shared sense of community and identity. And it quotes P. David Marshall, "professor of media and communication studies at Northeastern" as saying that when we follow the lives of "40 or 50" Hollywood types, we are echoing the small town gossip of yesteryear that we no longer have access to because of our move to big urban centers. Marshall goes on to say that celebrities lives become opportunities for us to discuss and determine values and skills, such as parenting, dating, and family relationships.
Does anybody really think we end up learning about relationship by deconstructing Angie's and Jen's ongoing tussle over Brad? Do we learn about how to have better relationships by checking up on Trump's latest attack on Rosie?
The key word here is "gossip." (Who knew I was climbing onto a soapbox?) I'm not sure I know why we enjoy watching people (famous or next door) screw up their lives, and why we enjoy being in the know about the details. It's essentially dramatic, true, and it probably serves all sorts of psychological functions, but I cannot get over the essentially squalid nature of the whole exercise. I have my guilty pleasures, and I'm sure I talk about people far more than I should, but as a culture, I can't believe all this fixation on the constructed "reality" served up in tabloids and reality TV is, in the end, good for us.
If you've ever known anyone famous, you know they're just like us, trying to live their life as best they can. The constant cameras may be a blessing, and they are a horrific curse.
I don't mean to be obnoxious, but I sort of like the way Eugene Peterson translates Proverbs 18:8
Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;
do you really want junk like that in your belly?
...just thinking out loud...
4:01:36 PM 
