Letters to the Editor
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Oh no, Rebecca's off the celebrity wagon
These characters -- from Hilton to Lohan to Spears to Amy Winehouse -- weren't just dancing on the odd table anymore -- naughty, naughty! -- they were getting in car accidents, hurting themselves, having breakdowns, beating the press with umbrellas, shaving their heads, flashing beav; there were rocks of cocaine hanging out of nostrils, videos of crack smoking, trips to prison, straitjackets.
By the way, are you haven't accidentally implied that Paris Hilton was caught with crack boogers?
You list things that are crimes, and link everyone together with collective pronouns.
In traditional journalism this might be considered umm WRONG.
I hope we are also seeing the end of the golden age of "cultural criticism" -- a form of discourse where pseudo-journalists evade all normal restraints of journalistic ethics and law so they can perpetrate legal forms of libel and slander under the guise of criticizing a "culture."
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Let me get this straight
You're SAD that the public has grown tired of lipsmacking and schadenfreude? The indication that maybe Americans are no longer quite so fond of pissiness, judgementalism and bigotry somehow bums you out? Gods, what a trash can you must have for a mind, Rebecca.
But then, considering the kinds of articles you've written here over the last couple of years, that hardly comes as a surprise.
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perezmania
I think she should not discount the popularity of celebrity blogs like perezhilton. By the time the celeb magazines come out, people who are interested in the gossip have already read all about it online.
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Celebrity ennui
I found the article to be intriguing and thoughtful. Although I've never been anything close to an avid gossip consumer, I would find myself reading People at the dentist's office and scanning headlines from the tabloids in the grocery store check-out line in times past. But now I find myself so weary from pop culture that I just can't rouse even the minimal furtive interest I used to have. I do feel over-pitched-to, so many entities vying for my clicks or attention or dollars or whatever that I'm just worn out. I think Traister has some insightful arguments for describing what I'm feeling. My husband and I got rid of our TV/cable a year ago and have just been downloading what we want to watch from the Internet ; when we stayed at a hotel recently with access to cable, we were astonished to find that it was even worse than when we quit watching (i.e., more annoying, stupid, braying commercials, advertisements parading as programs, really mindless programs, etc.). Even the Internet is starting to seem strained in the same terms, though it has much more diversity, thank god. At any rate, there comes a point when a phenomenon has played itself out. I hope that point might be now. We need to give some really thoughtful attention to the serious issues that confront us as a society and inhabitants of a planet that does have its limits in terms of supporting us.
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Point of Fact: Charo and the Gabor sisters
Neither Charo nor the Gabors were simply known for "being famous."
Charo and the Gabors (well, two of them) actually have/had careers in entertainment. Charo sings, dances and is lauded for her expertise in flamenco guitar. Have you ever seen her play? She does have talent. I think she also speaks a few languages, though she loves to cuichi-cuichi it up with English, since she is also a decent comedienne.
The Gabors - yes, the marrying Gabors - were not just socialites and climbers, but also managed to work in movies and television in their long careers in the entertainment industry.
Do I have to remind you of Eva's "Green Acres" or the fact that Zsa Zsa was in the original movie "Moulin Rouge"?
Okay, not earth shaking careers on either Gabors' part but careers nonetheless.
And Paris? Um. Oh. Yeah. That reality series. And some movies - uh.......??
So, let's tally up: Right about Paris Hilton. Wrong about Charo. Wrong about the Gabors.
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Rebecca, you held out longer than I did
My interest in celebrities died with Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana (which shows my age). Back then being a celebrity actually meant something -- namely, looking good and wearing underwear.
I distinctly remember the day I stood in line at the grocery store and saw that Jessica Simpson was on all the magazine covers. I asked my girlfriend who she was. My girlfriend told me she was a singer who, on her own reality show, had said that she thought Chicken of the Sea tuna was really chicken. That's why her show was so popular and why she was on the covers of all the magazines -- she had thought Chicken of the Sea tuna was really chicken. My girlfriend said "Isn't that funny?"
That's the day I knew I was old.
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Weren't you watching too?
There was a very brief period of time when celebrity gossip interested me. It was, as you put it, right after it started to get ridiculous, titillating, and limited to a small set of celebrities, and right before it started to get sad, scary, and simply degrading. It was the crotch shots that lost me; that's just a different game altogether, and one I don't want to play.
Clearly a huge segment of the population was interested, for it to have supported an industry. For people to say that it was only stupid, shallow, obsessive people watching - well, that's a lot of people to belittle and dismiss. And did you really not look at the sexy, freakshow elephant in the room? How?
And now that industry is failing. It's good to see it go, and hear that people are more interested in the elections than in dirty laundry, but a cultural phenomenon has come and gone, which is worthy of analysis.
I have a question that I want to ask on pretty much every letters on Salon. If you disagree with one reviewer, dislike one columnist, see some bias in an article - great. But if you find Salon as a whole somehow personally offensive - if you think it's a sensationalist rag, a vehicle for Clinton, a vehicle for misandrists - why do you read it? Why do you keep coming back?