Who among you have been able to walk past a magazine stand and not at least take a glance at what the newest juicy story is? Not one of you can claim this because it’s a natural instinct to want to know what is going on with others.
Many of you must have seen “Gossip Girl,” the new series “where the rich and beautiful get down and ugly.” And surely you haven’t missed an episode of “TMZ,” which fills the curious in on every imaginable celebrity scandal on the planet, right?
When it comes to gossip, nobody is safe.
Among the many forms of gossip, I think the ones about celebrities are the worst. These scandals tend to consume people’s lives like nothing ever has. Why? Why would people submit themselves to something so irrelevant, useless and time-consuming?
It’s because you would rather pay more attention to other peoples’ problems than face your own.
British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, author of “Grooming, Gossip and the “Evolution of Language,” said the following in an interview for MSNBC: “Gossip’s primitive significance may explain the unending appeal of celebrity journalism. We’re still watching the behavior of the alpha males and females in our tribe, only now we identify them as Brad and Angelina.”
Because there is no real emotional attachment to the feelings of strangers, viewers find it easy to involve themselves with issues that truly don’t concern them.
Even though the public believes that entertainers have to entertain us 24/7, it’s not true. And because “famous” people are not always on the job, the only source of stories the media can get is from delving into their private lives – well, not so private anymore.
Publicity has its place, but not in frivolous voyeurism.
The media only gives what the public wants. Magazines, television and other media outlets are not responsible, even though a great deal of gossip is attributable to them. The reality is that people who enjoy these types of public humiliation are the real instigators of having others’ lives displayed for all to see.
Prominent figures are just that, though – figures. People who have entertainment talent are consequently in the limelight. That doesn’t mean the light should be shed on their personal issues and displayed for the whole world to see.
So who cares if Kiefer Sutherland got pulled over for a DUI, or if JLo might be pregnant, or that so-and-so lost weight? Who cares?
As Jack Levin, a professor of sociology and criminology at Boston’s Northeastern University (who co-authored “Gossip: The Inside Scoop”), wrote: “[I]f we read bad news about celebrities in the tabloids … our own problems begin to pale in comparison.”
It doesn’t affect anyone else, or their living pattern. It especially doesn’t matter because no one would pay any attention if the same things happened to some other random strangers. We need to understand that it’s OK to be interested in others’ lives as long as it doesn’t become something obsessive.
Everyone may have the “curiosity gene,” but as long as people know when enough is enough, then they can learn to live their lives accordingly – and privately.
Melissa Torres is an undeclared freshman.
