Tabloids Are Following You Too!

It's almost impossible NOT to know what's going on in the lives of celebrities these days, whether you want to or not. Try to go to a supermarket and not notice all of the tabloid covers. Or a doctor's office, or an airport. They're everywhere. But why? Sure, they make money, a LOT of money. A recent People magazine featuring Sandra Bullock holding aloft her newly adopted baby from New Orleans sold over 2.7 million copies in one week, at an average cover price of $4.00 that's big business. Clearly people are buying them. Not me. Someone. But I have peeked. And I've "peeked" cover to cover. BUT WHY?
 
What is the fascination with celebrity? As our "villages" have gotten bigger and further apart, perhaps celebrities are one way that we can relate to one another over great distance. "Did you hear about Lindsay?", "I know, can you believe she's in rehab AGAIN??" So is that the appeal? Or do we want a break from our own lives to imagine the fabulous lives of the rich and famous and live vicariously through them?
 
Whatever the reason the demand is being met. Times 1000. Maybe it's always been this way. One could argue that in ancient Rome people gossiped about politicians, gladiators, even the gods. Maybe celebrities are our new, postmodern gods. We certainly like to build them up as such. But even more than that, we love to watch them fall back down to earth.
 
Wether or not it's a part of human nature to gossip about public figures, no one can deny that it's never been more prevalent in the history of man than right now. Buy a loaf of bread and you'll somehow return with the knowledge floating around somewhere in your brain that the Twilight kids are engaged or divorced or gay or whatever it is this week.
 
But what are the long term effects of a culture that holds celebrity in such esteem? Most importantly, what are our culture's famous people famous for? Actors, models, reality TV stars... What does it mean to an emerging generation that has been brought up knowing exactly who is breaking up with whom, or who wore it best, or who might just maybe have a baby bump? What about those kids who see the attention lavished on celebrities by other grown adults, what will they want to be when they grow up? A doctor, a fireman, a scientist, or that guy from that youtube video with a trillion hits?
 
We'd like to hear what you think about all this. So we made a website. We are inviting some amazing minds to discuss it with you. Some pro, some con, some undecided. We think these are curious times for our culture but we are mostly curious what you think about them.