It makes no difference to me whether or not you believe what I'm about to tell you. Seriously, I don't. Because that's the funny thing about the truth. It is what it is. Truth just sits there waiting on you to take a look and discover it for yourself. If you somehow find the truth uncomfortable or inconvenient, truth doesn't give a damn. It is what it is. And the truth is pretty simple when it comes to that social phenomenon we call celebrity.
Celebrities are a matter of public opinion. We give these celebrities their money and their lifestyles. We give them their deified status. And with the help of mass media, a cult of personality is born. With the help of mass media, we care when one of them acts a complete ass after a night of solid drinking. Two of them get married, and it's fodder at the water cooler. A rumored divorce will divide a country quicker than a presidential election. And what have any of these people done to deserve such unflapping interest and praise? Nothing. Nada. Not a damn thing.
Listen: These self-absorbed pricks have no intrinsic value. You and I impute value upon them. Don't believe me? What talent does Paris Hilton bring to the table? If you say, "She's hot," someone should slap you to the ground. No, she's not. Pompous and self-obsessed, definitely, but not hot. Oh, but I don't mean to pick on Paris. I find that most of these celebrities have no real importance aside from that which we lay at their feet.
Next time you're at the check out line in the grocery store, check out some of the airbrushed smiles beaming at you from the magazine covers. I dare you to find one talented person. Sure, a popular person. A person that we bestow unquestioned adulation upon. Maybe a good looking person. But hitting the genetic powerball doesn't euqate to talent. It just means that corporations will use these vessles of nothingness to sell you a bunch of mass produced, poorly made stuff that you don't need.
Don't get me wrong. It's not the celebrities fault. Hell, it's good work if you can get it. Sit around let people worship you and directly, or indirectly, provide you with an income that allows you to purchase private islands, yachts and Bentlys. How do you beat that? You can't. But why do we act so surprised and shocked if one of them misbehaves?
Just take a look. It all over news. Mel Gibson got drunk, drove, and then, when he was pulled over, let loose with some "vitriolic language." Lindsay Lohan got called on the carpet because she parties too much and misses work. These stories made national news. Are you serious?! It made national news and everyone shook their heads in despair and disappointment and tsk-tsk'd. Astonished that they could behave in such a way. Hey, news flash. They aren't gods. They are humans and, therefore, flawed. Gibson sounds to be so more than others, mind you. But, nontheless, they are flawed and bound to screw up. And when they do, it shouldn't be a matter of national concern. Honestly, Lohan is, what, 19? You tell me how you would act at 19 with all that money. I don't think professionalism is the first thing that jumps to mind when you think of 19-year-old millionaires. Either way, I don't care. It shouldn't be national news.
So anyway, there it is. Again, you may not like it, but the truth doesn't care. Celebrities are just people that we overvalue and overconcern oursleves with. They are just people that we have made out to be royalty because...well, for whatever reason. They only exist because we say they do.
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