Opinions

 

 

    

   

By Navneet Nagra

A few months ago, I found myself in
the dentist’s office waiting for my make-
me-want-to-gag appointment. I forgot my
book at home so I was forced to choose
something from the coffee table placed in
front of the uncomfortable chair I resided
in. There was only one magazine and a
few children’s books. Much to my relief,
the magazine was Time so I picked it up.
I flipped to an article about a new study
done on addiction and began to read.

As people around me got called
to their dental fates, I took notice of their
chosen reading material. I spotted issues
of US and People and I started to wonder,
why do these people find it so crucial to
know what Britney Spears is up to? I let
it go, that day in the dentist, coming to
the conclusion that I was, after all, in a
dentist office and there wasn’t exactly
much for anyone to do.

It wasn’t really untill after
that fateful dentist trip that I started
to realize just how much _ people
care about those celebrities who
wouldn’t even blink twice in return.

I was in the lounge at work,
eating my lunch and reading some Chuck
Palahniuk book when a fellow employee
and friend came up and sat beside me,
grabbing the latest tabloid off the table
(my boss happily supplies them for us).

“Britney’s crazy sex room, have
you read this yet?” She flipped through it
and I went back to my book, every so
often hearing “ewww,” “weird” and the
like. A few weeks later, back at work
another friend of mine asked me if I had
heard “the news.” I figured that someone
must have gotten fired so I encourage her
to go on. “They had their babies!” she
exclaimed. Who did, I asked her with
confusion, because as far as I knew no
one else we worked with was expecting
a baby. “Christina and Nicole!” she
replied, still excited, and went on to let
me know that she hoped that when the
two babies (boy and girl) got older that
they would get married and proceed to
produce the most fucked up baby anyone

8

Pull ing Out o

 

aris

had ever seen. I agreed, of course, but
then realized how we had so much less
to say about our own lives than the lives
of celebrities. She went
quiet after that and
asked about school.
I’m not just

“We have so much
less to say about our

s

ww. OM

f Tabloid Culture

don’t play the entire video anymore). I
began to realize that a lot of kids morph
their lives around what MTV tells them
to listen to, watch
and believe.

I know it
seems far-fetched, but

talking about the OWN lives than the I’ve seen it; kids who
unhealthy — obsession li only listen to the radio
with tabloids here, I les of to get their music, watch
also want to point out celebrities.” reality television and

the fascination with the
lives of anyone even remotely famous.
For instance, take the show The Hills.
Originally I thought it was a real-life
rip-off of the OC. However, as my sister
eventually let me
know, it’s actually
not. It just happens
to be another show
about glamorous
teens who live in
the real-life OC.
I actually _ tried
watching the show
once and ended up
being forced to leave
the living room
because I couldn’t
stop laughing at the
sheer ridiculousness
of it all.
M T V
became a common
station played at
my house after the
discovery of that
show. As time went
on I would proceed
to overhear some of
the truly bizarre stuff
the VJs talked about
(a demonstration
of different types
of wedgies comes |
to mind) as well
as the incredibly
brief music videos,
which they aired for
about two seconds
(apparently they &

Oi de: te
liberal

radical!

basically just conform,
conform, conform. I have three younger
siblings and I’ve seen this trend of “get
into what you’re told is cool”. Now, I’m
not saying that I am the ultimate goddess

POISON PEN

Right-wing
sell-out!

rh r~O rin
>... (1 ut Ca

  
      

of non-conformity (though that sounds
like a bitchin’ title). What I’m trying to
get at is we all need to open our eyes to
what is actually out there, and be aware
of different things. Instead of picking up
the latest edition of US maybe grab Kotori
instead. Instead of listening to what you
heard on the radio for the thousandth
time use the internet to find an awesome
band that no one has probably heard of.
Or watch an independent film! After
all, wouldn’t it be better if we stopped
paying attention to what the media and
tabloids feed us and really start to think
for ourselves?

by J.J. McCullough

Un-electable
divider!

Inspiring