There's a Line

So...I wish that I could say that I don’t read the tabloids or frequently visit gossip sites/columns…but I won’t, because that would be a lie. Truthfully, I regularly check 3 gossip columns at least two to three times a day. Why?? Honestly, because it’s an escape from my own reality. It’s like I get to be a fly on the wall and peer into someone else’s life for a change. Is this right? Should I be wasting my time determining “Who Wore It Best,” or viewing pictures of celebrities strutting down the streets in their best outfits? No. I think it’s a TOTAL waste of time. But, that’s why I read it. It serves as a means of escape. In those moments, I don’t want to think about what I have going on in my own personal life. I’d rather spend those moments viewing useless facts and information  – and what better source for retrieving such unless information from than celebrities.

Now…on the flip side...Whether or not I think these types of articles are newsworthy and should dominate the news?? That’s a different story.

I feel like there DEFINITELY needs to be a line. For instance, magazines such as People, Ok!, and UsWeekly are great for such an individual as myself who is seeking to momentarily step away from one’s own personal life, and get the latest gossip on who ate at which restaurant or who shopped at which store. However, as soon as such tabloids, paparazzi, or news channels begin to cross that line of Entertainment and begin to broadcast/report/”rubberneck” on moments that SHOULD be kept private and personal to those particular individuals involved…that’s when the line has been crossed and needs to be checked.

For example, let’s take Michael Jackson’s death. Whether or not you liked Michael as an individual or agreed/disagreed with the way he operated in his personal life, none can deny the impact that he had on the music industry, our culture, and in the world. Michael’s death was a complete surprise and tragedy to many individuals, but most especially to his family. With that, I can guarantee that the hardest part for his family during this time was dealing with the media and unsolicited commentaries from the general public.

While some lamented his death and offered their condolences to the pop star in their own way, I found it down right CRUEL how many people celebrated, cheered and worst of all, VOICED how happy they were that he was dead! How self-righteous and cruel can one be? Regardless of how you felt about Michael, his death should have been a private matter, dealt with amongst his family and closest friends. I can only imagine how much harder their grieving process has become because of the excessive media coverage and people giving their “two-cents” of how he deserved to die or not….am I wrong for feeling this way??

Therefore, to answer the question, “Are we just rubbernecking? Should celebrity news like a model’s gruesome death, a DJ’s overdose, or a divorced mother of 8’s daily rendezvous, dominate the news? Are these events really that noteworthy?”

I’d have to say that:

When viewing/reporting/commenting on such personal, saddening, and often times heart-wrenching events that should be kept private….yes, we’re just rubbernecking.

Is such news noteworthy? No. At that moment, it has crossed the line of Entertainment and has now become a SERIOUS matter, that should kept personal. There are many other things in this world that the media could be covering and bringing to public knowledge too, versus observing a newly-divorced, single mother handle and come to terms with the failure of her marriage, a marriage that she thought would last forever….It’s none of our business…We should not feel that we even have the RIGHT to see it as our business, and we should dare not report/reproduce/or voice on personal subject matters such as this.