Reading celebrity gossip is one of my guiltiest pleasures, along with watching some admittedly low-quality reality television shows. I know boat-loads of celebrity trivia. I can pretty much name the last five guys Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson have dated. I tell myself that I read these websites for sociological purposes, so I can understand American culture and laugh at its silly parts. I also justify it by telling myself that yes, it is a time-suck, but it’s no inherently different than any other kind of time-suck. In truth though, my rationalizations ring false, like an alcoholic who claims that they’re just a social drinker and can quit any time.
Image via Laughing Squid on Flickr
Before this project started, I checked celebrity gossip websites 2-3 times a day, if not more. As some of you know, I am almost a week into my Month without Television for Occupational and Leisure Studies 121. What some of you don’t know is that I have also been boycotting celebrity gossip during this time as well. My reasons for having a TV-free month were clear in my head: I watched too much of it, and I watched at the expense of pursuing my other hobbies and interests. I didn’t have as clear a reason for including celebrity news in with my month without TV. After all, I only check gossip columns for a few minutes at a time, right? Now that I’ve had a little more time to give it some thought, here are the top 5 reasons I’m giving it up for a month:
1) It is a time suck.
That’s the most obvious reason. If I put myself in the mindset that today is my last day on Earth, there are clearly other things I’d rather be doing than reading about Snooki and The Situation, even for 5 minutes of my life. It’s that simple. This course is about me re-connecting with time as my most valuable resource, and being thoughtful about how I use it (which I why I almost called the course “Chronological Studies” instead).
2) It makes me more of a spectator in my life rather than a participant.
It means I am spending my time observing things, rather than doing things. On the other hand, is it so bad to be passive sometimes? Is it a crime to escape from real life in fantasy and superficial nonsense? Clearly, America’s obsession with things like the Real Housewives franchise suggests that people love an escape. I would certainly never want to get rid of all mindless TV entertainment—you bet your behind that I will be watching Glee and Modern Family with devotion come October. In the future, perhaps I should approach TV and celebrity gossip like other things that are fun but not really good for you, like pizza, high fructose corn syrup, and alcohol. I should aspire for moderation and restraint, knowing that too much is worse than too little.
3) When I read them, I temporarily become a small-minded and catty person.
For some reason this picture makes me want to go Save the Rainforests...oh wait...
How do I know this? Because the main emotions I have when reading about celebrities are resentment, condescension, mocking, envy, and various other flavors of judgment. Those emotions aren’t really elevating me as a person. Does anyone really read celebrity gossip and feel like volunteering at a soup kitchen or reducing their carbon footprint? I doubt it.
4) It contributes to some of the worst things in American culture.
Everyone knows we have a Church of Celebrity in our country. We’re sensible enough to feel conflicted about it. On the one hand, we worship celebrities—photograph them, emulate them, and follow the minutiae of their life (Justin Bieber bought a cabbage today!). On the other hand, we resent them and we worry what effect this is having on our culture, on kids. One priceless example of this is my favorite-ist gossip blogger, who makes his living off of reporting on celebrities, but also likes to give them demeaning nicknames and graffiti celeb photos by drawing questionable fluids dribbling down their chin. Conflicted much?
The blue-haired old lady inside me wants to croak, “think of the children!” Celebrity worship does influence our “values,” a fact which I hesitate to mention because “values” have been co-opted by lots of despicable people like Ann Coulter and Al Qaeda. It’s true, though. Do we want kids to emulate celebrities and characters on popular reality shows? Do we want them to be oversexualized, fame-seeking, and obsessed with shopping and wealth? When I support these things myself, I am contributing to their existence and helping them grow. Despite my high-minded attitude, if I watch a trashy show I am no different than a viewer who wants to be just like the characters, buy their clothes, and do what they do. Our behaviors are identical, and our contribution to the marketplace of ideas and products are the same too.
5) Celebrities should be less important to me than the people I actually know.
This is actually the most important reason, I’ve decided. God knows, celebrities aren’t more talented or more interesting than the people I know. On the contrary, many celebrities seem to be untalented, entitled, appearance- and image-obsessed, and emotionally stunted. In contrast, I know all kind of accomplished and interesting people. I have friends and family members who are writers, cops, actors, rodeo riders, and organic farmers, to name a few things. I have friends whose personal lives easily rival celebrities in the Drama Department. It is besides the fact that a lot of the celebrity “news” (like the whole lives of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, it seems like) is fake or misreported anyway. I should spend more time trying to get to know and follow the exploits of the people in my life.
Deprivation can sometimes lead to rebound (ask any dieter who has tried to cut out entire food groups), so I know I’m going to have to be careful come October 1st and try to re-engage with both TV and celebrity gossip in a more mindful and moderate way. I am hoping that a month is enough time to miss the absence less.
Not that I’m finding that there’s time to fill; on the contrary, I’ve easily found replacements for TV and gossip columns over the past week. I’ve called some friends and family members I haven’t called in awhile. I’ve spent some hours cooking, exercising, reading, and listening to audiobooks. I find I’m reconnecting with a lot of the music I love. Oh yeah—I’m also blogging.
