Freeform Friday: The Cult of Celebrity

Has America's obsession with celebrities hit cult-like status?


Sadly, yes.

In no form is this fact more painstakingly obvious than with the success and celebrity of the cast of "Jersey Shore".

This "show", about a group of male and female drains on society, has become an enormous hit. Let that sink in for a second. A group of 20-something, selfish, unintelligent douchebags get paid millions (yes, millions) of dollars to party, tan and get into fights.

Are you fucking kidding me?

It literally makes me want to vomit.  These are the people that others actually aspire to be and want to watch all the time. I can't even watch MTV anymore because I want to throw my fucking TV at whoever runs the network.

You would hope that the tragic life of the amazingly stupid Anna Nicole Smith would set some sort of warning, if not to the idiot reality stars, then at least to the girls who aspire to be these idiots.

Nope.

They still follow the likes of Paris Hilton, "The Situation", Lindsey Lohan and Spencer Pratt as though they are religious figures. It has become the sad reality in the world that being stupid, spoiled, and without any type of meaningful purpose is what we should all aspire to become.

If life were fair, the Executive Director of the organization I work for would be an enormous celebrity. He runs a very successful non-profit. His model of ending homelessness is being copied all over the country. He has raised millions (yes, millions) of dollars for charity to help the homeless, he's an active member of 6 different Boards for various charity organizations and he teaches a class on homelessness and gentrification in Orange County at a local university. Yet, he makes a fraction of what "The Situation" makes. Doesn't seem right does it?

We have become a celeb-obsessed culture while real issues are being ignored. I hear far too often from people who dish about celebrities as though they're close personal friends, that they have no interest in politics because "Politics is stupid". Thay actually say this.

There was a time, maybe 50 years ago, when the majority of the population could tell you far more about their political opinions than they could about celebs. Rather than talking about what club Bette Davis and Joan Crawford got into a fight at or who Mae West slept with last night, they talked about changes they wanted to see and did something about it. And they were successful!

Nowadays, I guarantee you at LEAST 75% of people aged 13 - 30 couldnt tell you who the 39th President was (It's Jimmy Carter).

It seems that people don't want to be intelligent. They're too pre-occupied with celebrity dating lives and clubbing habits.

I wouldn't be surprised if soon, in schools, we hear the following:


"Well kids, we have thirteen stripes to commemorate every season of the Jersey Shore. The red one's represent the seasons where Snooki got punched in the face and the white ones represent the seasons where the cast tried to claiom "GTL" as intellectual property.

And we have the 50 stars to recognize the number of foreign children Angelina Jolie adopted.

Let's recite the Pledge of Allegiance,

'I pledge allegiance, to TMZ, in the world wide web of the internet. And to the awesome deals, for which it spams, one nation, totally hot, with prada bags and Manolo's for all.'"

Do me a favor: Everyone try to learn something meaningful once a day. After a month, this celeb bullshit will become so laughable it won't even entertain you.

Rant over...