I dislike celebrity media coverage

By tushar

Seriously, I DISLIKE it.  Want to know why?  It’s gossip.  There’s no reason why we should care.  Sure, we care if they pass away (that’s proper) or if they’re injured but do we need to spend billions each year on glorified gossip?  Really, how does what Paris Hilton (more on her later), Brad Pitt (a favourite actor of mine), or Tom Cruise do matter to any of us?  It doesn’t, it’s entertainment but it’s being covered by the news networks when there are kids missing, murderers on the lose, and economic/business issues that have profound effects on the future.

Normally I stay quiet about this kind of thing but a recent media event is being out of proportion and somebody needs to help people realize that it’s not a big deal.  The event is the hubbub surrounding “racial slurs” towards Shilpa Shetty.

I’d like to start by saying that prior to this event I didn’t even know that there was a person by the name of Shilpa Shetty (I have not done further research other than to confirm that she’s East Indian.  To be honest I’m not that big of a fan of Indian cinema as I find a lot of copycat film adapted towards entertainment although there have been a few good films recently, more on that later if I get the time).  Apparently, some of the other stars on Big Brother made fun of Shilpa and she was tensed out and then tens of thousands of people complained.  Channel 4 is now thinking of canceling the show and people are urging them to do so.

Out of this come several issues:

  1. Racial Slurs?
  2. Fight?
  3. Tens of thousands of complaints?
  4. Show being canceled?

I don’t care about #1.  Slurs didn’t seem all that racist and Shilpa herself has said that she doesn’t care (I dislike this event even more for making me waste my time researching when I could’ve been doing something more productive like banging my head against a wall).

I don’t care about #2 as it would just be two stars fighting.

I care about #3.  Who are these people that complained?  Do they not realize that this “reality show” is entertainment?  Do they not realize that “the show” is actually snippets that are heavily edited and then approved by a commitee before being put on the air?  This was intentionally put on the air in order to provoke and cause a flap.  It’s not coincidence that this made it to air, you losers are being conned!

I care about #4.  Now that so many people have complained and the ratings are at the highest ever why should anybody cancel the show?  It’s making money.  The put the “racist slurs” on TV so they would get high ratings and it seems to be a marketing ploy that has saved the day.  If anything I suspect we’ll see even more inappropriate behaviour making it to the air.

I applaud the producers of the show for masterfully manipulating the public and the media.  I condem the media networks for being stupid and not analyzing the real issues.  To all the people that complained:  How about worrying about your kids more so they don’t grow up to be slaves to the tube like you?