Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Celebrity Gossip A Seattle Times article this morning ("Celebrity worship serves a social and political function [~] for real") argues that America's obsession with the private lives of celebrities plays an important social role, namely that of giving us something to talk about like we used to talk about our neighbors. The cite statistics that says this particular "addiction" isn't going away. "Gossip weeklies like "Us," "In Touch" and "Star" all report substantial increases in circulation since 2003, collectively selling about 50 percent more subscriptions and single copies in the past 2 [product] years. E! Entertainment Television (the go-to network for the latest earful on who's sleeping with whom) reports a 17 percent increase in the average number of viewers since 2001. And that is to say nothing of the gossip blogs like Gawker and Perezhilton that continue to cultivate a cult readership." The article goes to state that even the hardcore news outlets like the New York Times are paying attention to Britney and K-Fed. I asked this very question of my students a couple of weeks ago: why all the fuss over celebrity private lives? They gave a variety of answers: that we live vicariously through their adventure and fame, that they have want we want--money, that to read and watch news reports about famous people is "fun" and "interesting," that they "distract us from the harshness of reality," that we like to watch powerful people fail and make mistakes, and of course, there's the idea that we all need heroes, and celebrities, due to the sheer power of their media presence, fit the bill. The Times article cites the fact that it makes for easy conversation at parties and around the proverbial water cooler, connecting us, giving us a shared sense of community and identity. And it quotes P. David Marshall, "professor of media and communication studies at Northeastern" as saying that when we follow the lives of "40 or 50" Hollywood types, we are echoing the small town gossip of yesteryear that we no longer have access to because of our move to big urban centers. Marshall goes on to say that celebrities lives become opportunities for us to discuss and determine values and skills, such as parenting, dating, and family relationships. Does anybody really think we end up learning about relationship by deconstructing Angie's and Jen's ongoing tussle over Brad? Do we learn about how to have better relationships by checking up on Trump's latest attack on Rosie? The key word here is "gossip." (Who knew I was climbing onto a soapbox?) I'm not sure I know why we enjoy watching people (famous or next door) screw up their lives, and why we enjoy being in the know about the details. It's essentially dramatic, true, and it probably serves all sorts of psychological functions, but I cannot get over the essentially squalid nature of the whole exercise. I have my guilty pleasures, and I'm sure I talk about people far more than I should, but as a culture, I can't believe all this fixation on the constructed "reality" served up in tabloids and reality TV is, in the end, good for us. If you've ever known anyone famous, you know they're just like us, trying to live their life as best they can. The constant cameras may be a blessing, and they are a horrific curse. I don't mean to be obnoxious, but I sort of like the way Eugene Peterson translates Proverbs 18:8 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you really want junk like that in your belly? ...just thinking out loud... 4:01:36 PM    comment []

Monday, October 9, 2006

This I Believe If you've listened to NPR, you've heard this series: This I Believe. Reading the essays at NPR's This I Believe website is pretty instructive and inspirational. I'll be reading these for awhile. Look at "Failure is a Good Thing" and "The Tense Middle..." 10:43:29 PM    comment []

Middle School Kids and The TV TV Hurts Kids' School Performance: Study Study backs parents who say "No TV on a school-night" Here's another study suggesting that the average middle school student watches 4 hours of TV a day, and that it adversely affects their performance in school as well as their health. And according to this study, middle school kids watching R-rated movies do even worse. If you know me, you know I'm not a knee-jerk don't-ever-watch-an-R-rated-moved kind of guy. But it seems to me two things are needed: 1. Less time watching TV 2. More time spent engaging what we do watch thoughtfully. 8:53:09 AM    comment []

Thursday, October 5, 2006

News is Entertainment, Entertainment is News Here's an interesting study from the University of Indiana claiming that in terms of sheer news substance, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart may be on a par with regular network news. It's no joke: IU study finds The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to be as substantive as network news. I've always said new is primarily entertainment. Turns out while Jon Stewart stuffs his substance between bits of humor, the networks stuff theirs between bits of hype. And now, this... 6:28:38 PM    comment []

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

American Idol and Self-Deception One of my "guilty pleasures" in the world of TV is American Idol, which last night got off to a funny, if not slightly weird, beginning. The usual cast of players was there--Simon, Paula, Randy, and Ryan--and of course, there were the hopefuls. Set in Chicago, this ongoing comic drama had a cast of thousands...literally. The show offered a few peeks at the cream of the talent, eventually telling us that 34 of the Windy City auditioners were picked to go to the next round. But the main attraction, so often the case, was that crazy, busted dream of the rejected. Self-deception runs rampant on American Idol, and as I watched, I couldn't help but think that the American love affair with believing in dreams sometimes takes its toll. No question that achievement begins in imagination, that somehow a future yet unmade must captivate our minds and hearts. But I've also been known to say that life is much about learning to deal with setbacks and failures, and in the end, coming to terms with who we are, as opposed to who we wish we were. This, of course, is a hard truth in the cult of celebrity, where (as Hugh Laurie mentioned after winning his Golden Globe award) people who play doctors are lauded in the national press, and most doctors just go about their work unnoticed. But watching the raging foul mouths of those deceived and tossed aside folk from American Idol, I couldn"t help but wonder if we're watching a pretty good metaphor for so much of life these days. As we watch the singers, quality is pretty stark and evident, which makes the choice of passing the last crazy guy (Mr. Jumpy) all the more egregious--it's not unlike giving the student the "A" on the paper when it's really "C" work, but they have to get the "A" to pass the class. It messes with us because we can plainly see that the poor guy is being sent to Hollywood whimsically, as a piece of amusement and drama. Stayed tuned not for musical quality and the honest human drama of people trying to make it in the business, but for the odd and the weird, sent to us fortuitously by the gods of comedy. So the notion of artistic "good" is up for grabs again. Here's a question I can't help but ponder on this morning when physician assisted suicide is getting support from the Supreme Court and airplay in the national press: if our personal and/or national notions of moral and/or spiritual good up were displayed before a panel of judges chaired by, say, God, would the results be as stark and obvious? Would "good" or "quality" be as easy to see as it is on American Idol? As Dr. House might say, "Everybody lies...to themselves..." 7:03:52 AM    comment []

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Urban Outfitters I felt a bit like Dorothy in Oz last night as I stood for what I think is the first time in Seattle's downtown Urban Outfitters. The postmodern is a whirlwind all right, and it's plopping people down in places that are a long way from Kansas. I'm trying very hard to be hip in my analysis of the place, though obviously analysis is the very thing the space doesn't want you to do. But I'm sure my advertising/marketing friends will tell me how brilliantly its designed. It's meant to look like a teenager's messy room, right down to the trash on the floor that nobody seemed the least interested to pick up. 20-somethings picking at piles of clothes, browsing piles of book titles mostly about sex and its illustrated encouragement, various Mamet-esque takes on the "f' word, and multiple forms of rowdy satire. I even bought a book. This Book Will Change Your Life. Now there's a title that is as truth-telling as any I've seen. I'll have to come back to it, because just now it's time for more Christmas merriment with Mom and the mall, but let me just say this: I bought the book to take to my Aesthetics class at ACU, as a beautiful example of both the wonder and challenge of postmodern style and thought forms. From a moral point of view, it's a riot of thought-life chaos. How in the world do we make sense of postmodern life? This book tells you. Like I said, more on This Book Will Change Your Life later, but for now, to investigate the madness (I'm not being pejorative, just descriptive, in a "double irony" sort of way) at their web site, titled (what else?) www.thiswebsitewillchangeyourlife.com. Warning: Mature content. More irony... 9:27:26 AM    comment []

Friday, December 17, 2004

Wise Shopping Christmas consumerism causes me all kinds of "cognitive dissonance." From the greedy impulse that leaps toward the object of desire (keep me out of all Mac stores), to the strange, lucid revelation that I will never be able to get the right amount of right Christmas gifts (I can neither afford nor find them), to the sudden insight that, of course, these presents are meant to somehow symbolize the love we have for the recepient (what if they can't read the symbol system I subscribe to?), the experience of Christmas shopping (or any other gifting, for that matter) swings me from moments of hopeful ecstasy to depressed resignation. I like stuff as much as the next guy - growing up, my sister and I yearly made contests of counting presents. But somehow this year, as I walk the aisles of department stores and boutique specialty shops, periodically grabbing lattes to calm the nerves, I can't help but wonder at the strangeness of it all. The choice of gifts is overwhelming: miles of dresses, skirts, shirts, sweaters, shoes, socks, electronics, exotic foods, houseware glass and appliances, games, entertainments of all kinds, books, books, books.... What's the cultural comment here? I don't know, just questions: I wonder what Christmas mornings are really like in the homes across America? The kids tear into the packages, the adults open their smaller ones, brothers and sisters try on new clothes. Toys squeak and doink, new computers boot up, the lucky get the keys the big-bowed Lexus out front. Some will have to settle for a hug and a roof over their heads, and some, not even that. Do we get the symbols? Do we receive the love offered? Maybe it's offered well, maybe not. Maybe it's the thought that counts, and maybe we haven't thought too much about it. But whatever's given, whatever broken offering's being unwrapped just now, do we take the giving into the privacy of our hearts, pausing at some point to just look across the room at the loved one taking pleasure in it, the gift given, hoping somehow (Dear God) they get the message we're tossing out there? And do we ever ask (Dear God) Providence to help our little exchange of love along? Or pray, "Thanks?" Do you ever wish for a wise man experience? I do. It seems simpler somehow, deeper, though longer and harder, too. To travel all those miles, all those days and nights, hunting for just one recipient, carrying a gift that somehow represents all the love you have, all the hope inside you? Seeking, seeking, meditating on the one to receive the gift, the one that sits under a star, in the buried heart of the world? But then, to have that kind of Christmas, I guess we'd have to be wise... 11:12:15 PM    comment []

Wednesday, December 8, 2004

Going Jesus Man, lots of roaming on the net today: painting, Kenye West Videos (more on Jesus Walks later, and now I come 'round to find a parish administrator doing some fun stuff with pop culture kitsch. Just now she has a running series on nativity scenes that probably ought not to exist. Check out Going Jesus. Inflatable Nativity? 5:58:37 PM    comment []

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