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Thursday, July 9, 2009 12:00 AM

The poison of celebrity

While the ersatz mourning for Michael Jackson was merely annoying, the fame of lightweight Sarah Palin is dangerous
By Gary Kamiya

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  • Wednesday, July 8, 2009 05:59 PM

    Poison, yes

    I would disagree that celebrity worship is benign most of the time. I think that it creates a bizarre, mass inferiority complex for anyone who falls for these corporate machinations. It makes those of us who have modest talents and might otherwise enjoy them constantly compare our accomplishments with heights of success and attention that are unattainable for most people. It distracts us from issues that really affect our lives and it destroys talented artists in order to endlessly sell us stuff--magazines, records, T shirts, WTF-ever. It creates a weird, sick desire to put celebrities on pedestals where we resent them and then gloat over their fall. It's just icky. Not good for either the celebrity or the fan. I love music, art, literature, film, etc., but I wish we could just enjoy the work and the talent without swallowing the poison.

    —chikalada Read chikalada's other letters

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