A war was fought this summer. However, instead of the conventional battleground, this war battled it out on every news page and in every headline across the country.
No, it wasn’t the combat in Iraq or even the everyday struggles occurring on Capitol Hill. This bloody event started in the Hollywood hills of California. It was the struggle between celebrities, or Operation Superstar, as I have affectionately deemed it.
Summer time offers a more relaxed environment for many people, and it seems that this time of unwinding also applied to the media. I read massive headlines proclaiming “Jennifer doesn’t want Brad back!” or “Britney and Kevin-The New Camelot.”
Keeping true to the spirit of journalism, the media provided updated information on the war in Iraq. Usually these updates were featured below the more prominent news events, such as Angelina Jolie’s most recent adoption of a child from a Third World country.
But space must be filled on news pages, right? So who is to begrudge the media the right to mention the latest developments in the entertainment industry?
I, as so many others, was guilty of indulging in these bits of Hollywood fodder. Personally, I couldn’t be dragged to an anti-war protest unless the organizers were offering free thin crust pizza and a new iPod. But ask me to march outside the courthouse where the Pitts dissolved their marriage, while carrying picket signs and wearing “Team Aniston” T-shirts, and I’d be there … rain or shine.
This attitude begs the question, “Are we that attached to drama that we must know all the dirty details surrounding the marriage of Jessica and Nick?” And more importantly, are we so ready to believe that anything and everything the media reports is actually newsworthy?
Obviously news isn’t always about the newest Hollywood “it” couple, as anyone can see by looking at a random newspaper in the past two weeks. In the aftermath of Katrina and its ongoing tragedy, we are confronted with a plethora of articles, written from different perspectives. An event of this magnitude hasn’t affected front pages since 9/11. Does this mean anything? Perhaps.
After 9/11, and the ensuing mass of articles and special reports, the American public seemed to collectively throw up their hands and scream for something lighter, more gossipy and less doomsday.
And Hollywood steps in, offering up its idols and stars on the altar of “need to know.” The public started demanding more insight into Michael Jackson’s life, Martha Stewart’s hobbies and Tom Cruise’s love affairs. Were we wrong to turn away from reality to obsess over trite issues? I believe we were displaying our innate human survival skills. In the presence of all the gloom, we needed to escape. And in this escape we were allowed not to dwell on such horrible events, but instead to delude ourselves into thinking that the most important happenings in the country were centered around the lifestyles of Hollywood’s elite.
Perhaps we are becoming so desensitized to the ugliness of the media that we can only handle bursts of reality accompanied by wave after wave of gossip and baby mama drama. By becoming escapists, we have created an exact point to cut off the inflow of information dealing with wars, hurricanes and suffering.
Is this the fault of the media? After all, they are just trying to sell papers. And if we only want to read Hollywood rumors after a certain point, then they are just giving us what we want-a world where soap operas and reality television have bled over into the field of journalism.
I don’t feel bad when I read a story about Katie Holmes marrying an actor who is almost twice her age. I’m sure Tom Cruise loves to read the story as well … the lucky jerk.
After all, we are survivors. We still care about the people in the world and their misfortune. We felt the chilling arm of Hurricane Katrina here, and we mourn with those who have lost so much in its wake.
Although, show me a person who thinks Britney’s newfound trashy maternal wardrobe warrants a front page commentary over the selection of the new Supreme Court justices.
There’s survival, and then there’s bad taste.