The Celebrity Backlash

The Cult of Celebrity has always had its heroes and villains, but probably most prevalent in this subculture are the celebrities once celebrated that people turn against. I don't know that Paris was ever celebrated, she was more of an amusing punchline, but it's obvious now that her shtick is wearing thin with John and Jane Public.

Case in point: The two petitions I have run across just today being sent to Gov. Schwarzenegger to jail Paris Hilton and refuse her clemency. Some people even call for her execution as she (and I'm paraphrasing here) adds nothing to humanity and her continued existence is a drain on valuable resources such as air and water.

Jail Paris

While this is amusing and I do agree she should go to jail I think people are missing the larger picture here. This is, after all, a person who's famous for having no talent. Honestly. As a model she only has two looks. As an actress she adds nothing, not even sexuality to a formulaic slasher flick in which you know she'll die but not before getting it on with her boyfriend. Carrying a toy dog in a purse does not count as being an animal activist. She can't sing. And, from what I've seen of her sex tape, she's a lousy lay. Unless, of course, you prefer women who answer their cell phones mid-coitus. The point is this woman should not be a celebrity in the first place, and if she weren't a celebrity this wouldn't be a news story.

Celebrity's a funny thing, and I'm not sure what should qualify for such a dubious mantle. On one hand you have entertainers, people who are naturally in the spotlight and by the nature of their occupation are strangers that people feel some sort of connection with (and in the cases of stalkers a little too much of a connection). Entertainers at their best provide more than entertainment, they provide an insight to the human condition that can not be matched and they act as a social mirror to the times we live in, the times we made it through, and the times that may yet come. So why should they not be venerated (and alternately destroyed) for taking on such a noble profession, or at least a profession that was once noble?

On the other hand, they are not teachers. They are not the leaders of society, nor are they those charged with educating tomorrow's leaders. And shouldn't those people be the celebrities? My argument for that is if teachers wanted to be celebrities they'd get a TV show, or have sex with a student.

Of course, another worry that this petitions signify is a serious concern that we are devolving to a Running Man sort of mentality as a society. A new Roman Coliseum in which you don't need a ticket in order to get a first row seat to all the bloodshed the Republic sanctions as mindless entertainment. No, for that privilege now you need only a cable box or a satellite dish. Our choicest Gladiators are celebrities, our Lions the predators of Vice and Public Opinion.

The public is as much to blame for the Paris Hilton sentence being a news story as the media or the airheaded heiress herself. And these kinds of intrusions into the areas of real and actual news will continue until we, as a public, demand a higher standard for celebrities. These petitions are either the start of that, or the start of something much worse.