If you could change anything for the young people coming up today - what would it be?
For me - it would be to put an end to publishing negativity in Tabloids; you know - the provocative eye-catching headlines strategically placed at the Checkout Counters: "Celebrity Head-to-Toe Body Bashing"!
While some might get their jollies at first glance; I see - malicious & petty. That's how powerful words & imagery are - it goes much deeper than "Celebrity Schadenfreude".
These mainstream Rags don't aspire to Spoof or Satire; they're masquerading as truth & deliberately maligning for the almighty dollar; taking "Gossip" to an evil level.
Something's mighty wrong with the wonderful trade of Journalism; when Pseudo-quotes are treated as if they were Direct-quotes disguised as Entertainment.
Why do you think Book Stores are closing & Tabloids are getting rich?
The only answer is, "Don't buy & don't Look"! It's just like that "Krispy Kreme" you just sniffed - walk away!
The same goes for Headlines:
"WHO WILL DIE"?
- predicting which infirm Star is next & the creepy:
"SURGERIES GONE AWRY"!
And the ultra-insensitive:
"LOOK WHO'S GOT ANOREXIA", "WHO FAILED AT SUICIDE", "GAY OR JUST HAPPY?" & "WHO JUST WENT INTO REHAB AGAIN"!
"Marriage" is cheapened - and "Divorce" is just about signing signatures. They don't even bother with DUI's & Bastard Children anymore - bor-ing!
And forget about "Aging Gracefully". Obviously - it's over for us!
What's next "Short People"? Not funny looking enough - they can Photoshop it!
The bottom line is; these things are Private - and should stay within our families.
Today, lines have become blurred: Tabloids think they're Newspapers & Newspapers look like Tabloids & we the public; take it like it's a given. No, "America's Next Top Waddle" on the News-stand - is not acceptable!
Celebrities have either been quietly fuming or spoken up to such misuse of the 1st Amendment. But nobody really reads or cares about their explanation. The Kelly Clarkson's & Jessica Simpson's of this world are just ignored. Next!
And what if Kim Kardasian admits she has a big Butt? It's paraded in so many dresses & bikinis - we think we have permission to laugh - and besides Leno & Letterman are always there to say it's O.K.
What is the exact measurement of today's Optimum Butt, anyway? No one has to be Size O to be lovable! Get it?
Admen are counting on readers to make themselves feel better using others misfortunes & bad choices as examples to ignore their own. It's living vicariously - but in a twisted way.
Where's "Norma Rae" when you need her?
So I say, "Put the Publishers & the Admen out of business and bring back Compassion, Civility & Genteelness - those Jobs don't need to be saved"!
"What"? You say.
"I love my Scandals - it's the only chance I get to sit down with my Cuppa Joe & my Cinnabon & zone out. Then I Tweet everybody about the shocking stuff I just read! Otherwise, people would think I have a boring life"!
Do these vicious smears correlate with our anger because of the economy; or is it just a breakdown of respect, privacy & empathy for our fellow man?
That is what sticks in my craw.
What sticks in yours?
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V.Corso
OS Weekend Fiction Club
Thoth
Blinddream
Procopius
Rob St. Amant
Salon.com
Comments
That is what sticks in my craw.
What sticks in yours?
oh mine too. but
there is never a market for stuff that people do not WANT.
we gotta change people's attitudes or we shall not get rid of
this ceremony we have re. our celebs:
build em up tear em down
build em up again, etc.
more energy ought to be invested in our own lives.
but they pale beside the beauty & activity of the great gods.
except the great gods are simply projections
of the public psyche..
.
I almost never eat French fries. I was, for 23 years, married to a woman from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. She cooked rice and I ate rice. Now it's still my basic starchy carb of choice.
I figure that if a lot of people want to fill their brains with the crap that's in the National Enquirer or the Star, why not? Obviously they're not using that space anyway.....
.
"KIM HUSTLE'S THE BUSTLE"!