So, I am going to try to regularly update- hopefully daily posts. I am also thinking of having themes for the titles (usually will be quotes) of my posts. I'll reveal what the source of the quotes every Sunday for the preceding week. Since Sunday is considered by many to be the last day of the week (hence, "week end"), the theme will run from Monday to Sunday of the following week.
Not too much happened today admittedly. I mean, I went to church, same as any other Sunday (well, except for half of this past quarter, but that was due to an increased school load- also a story for another day). I will probably finish out the day with some writing, dinner, running/weight lifting. Yeah, I'm a bit out of shape- my fault. But I'm trying to be proactive and actually do something about it. Which is more than I could say for a number of people who seem to love their problems more than doing something about it. This is not to say I am not a hypocrite- I can be at times, but I like be be honest about my hypocrisy. Irony, much?
So, the one thing that happens to be on my mind is Lindsay Lohan. It is always striking to me, who watched her when I was nine or so years old in the remake of The Parent Trap, to see what has become of her. She has gone from this very sweet innocent girl to a crazed starlet who has to check herself in for drug and alcohol addiction (which I admire her for- not too many people are proactive enough to realize they have a problem *and* do something about it) and go out of the country instead of showing up for her day in court. It's kinda scary and reminds me of Mean Girls in reverse. But not so disturbing is her repeated fall from grace is the fact that the media is focusing on her. Let me pose the question: who cares? Why does the media, and by extension- society, seem to care about watching someone screw up their life?
I mean, is there really nothing else to report on? Are there not wars/economic crises/humanitarians that better deserve attention? Oy. It seems like the media is a bit of a parasite, hopping from host to host, sucking them dry and leaving their dried out carcass when some new hot item comes along. Just to give you a glimpse at all of the past media field days I'll list a few: John and Kate's divorce, Paris and Nicole (for just being Paris and Nicole), MJ holding his kid over a balcony (among other things), Winona Ryder stealing some clothes, Pee-Wee Herman slap-boxing the one eyed snake in a theater. Why do we care? Are our lives that absolutely pathetic that we get some kind of release by watching other people screw their lives up? I'm not excusing what these people did or saying that it is correct (it's not) but why do we care so much? There have to be hundreds of petty thefts in a day or various cases of small crime. Why do we care who does it? What makes a celebrity that much more important than Joe (or Johanna, if you prefer) Criminal that the celebrity has hours of news devoted to him or her?
It seems to be even worse for those who were the child stars with Disney (such as Ms. Spears and Ms. Lohan) which is somewhat ironic as that is supposed to be a family friendly company. And those were more of the Disney stars of *my* generation who watched Even Stevens, Lizzie Maguire and The Famous Jett Jackson (speaking of, what the heck happened to Lee Thompson Young? He showed up on Scrubs a few times, but what's he been up to?). This next generation of Disney stars doesn't seem exempt either. How long ago was it when that High School Musical Star, Vanessa Hudgens had those pictures show up on the Internet or Miley Cyrus had the somewhat edgy performance at the Teen Choice Awards? Also, note well: these are all female stars. Why is this? Are males child stars that much better or what is really going on here?
But then again, if one doesn't cause controversy, are they recognized? When was the last time you heard about Hillary Duff (Lizzie Maguire) or Christy Carlson Romano (Even Stevens)? Exactly.
So, what is the take-home message here? Is our society telling us to screw up our lives or otherwise we are boring? Is our culture that starved for drama that we need to find it somehow somewhere? I don't know, I just am sick of it. If I want drama, I could watch Law and Order: SVU or reread Hamlet or walk anywhere near a sorority house (if I was back at school). I do enjoy a good story and drama is an interesting part of life, but I do not need to be bombarded by it at every turn.
This being said, if you want to take a stand, just turn off the TV or radio when these stories come on. Otherwise you are just encouraging it. Hopefully if enough people stand up, these stories will get pushed down and everyone can mind their own business. That'll be it for me today.
-Reven
Quotes of the week were from "Spider-man" (2004 film)
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