As some of you know, I am usually looking for ridiculous stories in the news to write about, hoping to eventually make a valid point about it.
This article is no exception.
I want to talk about a certain type of ridiculous story that news writers seem enamored with. Forget the drinking habits and police records of politicians. Try the drinking habits and police records of politicians’ children.
Recently an Associated Press story told about the daughters of Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch. Apparently the girls decided to go out clubbing for the younger one’s 21st birthday.
The night’s highlights were being thrown out of the club for being drunk-which was why they went there in the first place-knocking off an officer’s glasses and kicking through the rear passenger’s side window in a squad car.
Yes, this article made me laugh. It sounded like a story you’d hear before class Monday morning. It was definitely entertaining.
But the behavior itself is hardly newsworthy, especially for international news. It just sounds like some Friday night fun taken a little too far. Would the press write about Joe College from MSU if he got arrested for such behavior? Of course not.
Then why do Elizabeth and Anne Hatch receive “special treatment?” Well, believe it or not, the Minnesota attorney general actually qualifies for celebrity status. No kidding.
Assuming that we accept Hatch’s celebrity status as important enough to get his daughters’ names plastered all over the news, it still begs the question. Why should we care?
I often wonder what the point is in following the personal lives of celebrities.
Therefore, I’m puzzled about following the personal lives of the families of celebrities-ordinary people who would not be famous if their parents or third cousin did not go into politics or acting.
I am not only talking about the lives of the daughters of minor celebrities. I am also talking about the daughters of more famous people, like … oh, say … the president.
Who hasn’t heard of the antics of the Bush family? I heard about it so much, I came close to developing eye problems from rolling my eyes too often.
Yet will their celebrity status even last past their father’s term? I remember in grade school reading things about Chelsea Clinton, even seeing a book authored by her about her experiences. The press actually followed her college search.
So where is she now? Everyone will hear plenty about Hillary because of her political career, but Chelsea has disappeared from surveillance.
This just follows the pattern of other previous presidents and their families. Most of us are not even sure which presidents are still alive.
All right, forget the importance and staying power of celebrities. The media does plenty to air the laundry of major celebrities that will not be forgotten. And it’s not just the tabloids.
But we can’t just blame the news. Mostly they’re just giving the public what it wants-what it’s interested in. That gets back to my original question. Why should we care?
The normal American usually leads a pretty dull life. We get up, go to work or school, come home and watch television.
The highlight of our week is probably going to be going out to eat. The highlight of our year is going to be going to the beach, the mountains or theme park on vacation.
So we fill up our lives by living vicariously through celebrities and their families. But the families have an extra appeal as well.
These people are ordinary people, just like us and everyone around us. We like to think that ordinary people are important enough to get in the news. Maybe, then, we have a chance. Maybe it validates our own existence.
But the more sane validation is to divorce ourselves from reading about the drunken binges of politicians’ children.
If we actually got out of the house and did something for our community, we wouldn’t need to follow news stories like these.
Which would be a good thing all around.
Angela Adair is a junior English major. She can be reached at [email protected].