The Path of the Celebrity Gossip Junkie

When O.J. Simpson posted bail after his latest criminal and shocking media attention tantrum, all eyes - and cameras - were on him. The news shows were hanging onto his every move, and the coverage he has been receiving has been phenomenal. The press has been analyzing and discussing Simpson as if his behavior created a national crisis that must be immediately addressed, which left me wondering to myself, and then eventually out loud - is there nothing else going on in the world?

In the check-out line of the grocery store, I'm bombarded with headlines concerned with Angelina being upset with Brad after he publicly reveals his feelings for Jen. Or how out of shape Britney Spears body was at her MTV Music Awards performance. Or how Oprah Winfrey is kicking Stedman out once and for all. Why is this mess all over the place, and why are we so fascinated to read about it? Right now, we live in an entertainment culture where the dramatic soap opera-esque lives of the stars we love outweigh any occurrence of substantial hard hitting or social news.

In our obsession to be entertained, on a parallel wave of complacency, is the desire to watch people who look like you, me and the bus boy at the Italian restaurant down the street, to deceptively plot and back-stab or make complete teary-eyed fools of themselves on national television.

I've even auditioned for one once. It wasn't because I really wanted to be on the show so bad, but two things lured me in front of the audition camera. One, because the open casting call was right in front of the movie theater I was taking my daughter to (plus the line was relatively short); and the promise of someone winning $10 million. I felt my audition went very well, and the casting director assured me, "They're going to love you!" As I assumed he was talking about the producers of the show.

About three weeks later, I received a letter in the mail explaining how everyone who auditioned should have been informed about the nature of the show. This letter was quite interesting since the audition staff only told us that the show was a cross between Survivor and The Amazing Race. What they didn't tell us at the open casting call that the letter told me, was that 15 contestants would have to pool their entire life savings and after undergoing a series of challenges over the course of 100 days, the last man or woman standing would win the pool. What in the world....!?

Yes, every now and then we'll pay attention to what's going on in Iraq. Sometimes we take note of Iran. We might scramble a bit with China trying to poison our children with lead, and we might donate some brain energy to the presidential candidates every once in a while, but then - back to the Giants (or Patriots or whatever). But where's the over zealous media coverage with Jena - 6? And why is O.J. Simpson's robbery more important than Morgan Williams' rape and torture by six people in West Virginia? Why do we care about Tom and Katie so much when concentration camps are springing up all over America? And raise your hand if you know where Darfur is!

Thank God for the internet (yes - I did actually say God). For years the media has been the gate keepers of the charitable information that they deemed important to us, but with the power we now have with our computers, though a lot of time is wasted on forwarded emails that relate to our addictive obsession with being entertained and entertaining others, a lot of broadcast censored material is able to widely circulate, and it's you and I who decide what we find earth shattering or fluff. The challenge now, is only to be mindful of the balance. All work and no play does make Jane a very dull girl - but dang it Jane, don't let the world think for you! In the hypnotic lull of light heartedness and laughter, sinister cogs are being put in place - but what are we worried about? Tyra Banks' weight.