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Lives
of the Rich and Famous
by Peary Perry | |
You
tell me….are we all going crazy or does it just seem that way?
I mean,
look at the magazines at the checkout stands at the grocery store. Who are these
people and what kind of nuts write these stories and take these kinds of photographs?
It has become more and more obvious to me as I travel that a large majority of
the population in the world are what I’d call semi-voyeurs. They seem to be living
their lives though the lives of people they don’t know and never will meet. We
seem to be consumed with the likes of People, US, Stars, National Inquirer, ET
and hundreds more that I don’t even know about. All of these seem to be focused
on the lives and activities of famous or want to be famous people.
I
don’t care about Paris Hilton. I’ve never met her, I never will meet her and what
she does with her life is of absolutely no interest to me at all. I’d just like
it if the media would stop splashing her name and picture around ever thirty minutes
or so as if she is the most important person on the planet. I could care less
about her relationship with Nicole somebody, why should I be interested in this?
The
same goes from Lindsay Lohan, Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise, Jessica Simpson, Jude
Law and Britney whatever. Their public relations people must be working extra
overtime to get this much exposure. Give me a break.
I don’t know about
you, but in the normal course of the day, I have enough going on in my life that
I just want to come home, relax, read, talk to my wife and chill out. I don’t
need the screaming boob tube telling me about things some actor or singer did
today. I don’t care where they eat or shop. I don’t care what they wear. I am
not going to buy something because some entertainer wore it first. So what?
I have no problem with them making money and spending it however they see fit
to do so. That’s ok with me and I’d probably do the same if I were in their shoes.
But to live my life through theirs is silly and a waste of my time. There are
more things in my life than watching to see what some media darling is doing this
week or who they broke up with or getting married to. I need to concentrate on
learning more about what my kids are doing and how I can help them. I need to
focus on helping my wife get through a tough time dealing with the recent death
of her mother. I need to work on my own self, not get distracted with other peoples
lives.
Especially the lives of people I will never know or meet. I suppose
there are a lot of people who are just curious about how the other ‘half’ lives.
But, I ask you to consider this… how do you know that what you are reading or
watching is even close to being the truth? I venture to say that you can take
just about any celebrity in today’s world and if you examine close enough you
will find as many good things about them as you do bad. And I suggest to you that
the other way holds true as well. Face it folks, these are real people, just like
you and me. They have real problems, real relationship issues, real money issues
and are subject to the same kinds of illnesses and age related diseases we all
face at one time or another.
In spite of what you believe or want to believe,
they will not stay young forever. I suppose my viewpoint is somewhat jaded by
my age. It seems the older I get, the more precious time is to me. So, I tend
to think of it as a commodity to be used wisely and not wasted.
I have
nothing against these people, these media celebrities, these persons de’jour;
they have a right to be here just as I do.
I just think we should examine
our lives and spend our time where it can be more useful to our immediate surroundings
and not gazing through rose colored glasses at some persona living in a mansion
in Beverley Hills.
But then, what do I know?
© Peary Perry
Letters From
North America - January 10, 2006 column
Syndicated weekly in 80 newspapers
Comments
go to pperry@austin.rr.com | | |
