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Original poster

Are you 'obsessed with celebrity'?

57 replies

Twiglett · 04/06/2007 18:03

this 'national obsession with celebrity' .. is it real or is it a media driven farce

I personally have no desire to be famous .. ever .. have no desire to watch or read about celebrities, even major Hollywood stars. Most people I know are pretty aligned with this lack of interest

so how come tv screens and 'news' are still filled with trite about minor people with no talent?

OP posts:
WanderingTrolley · 04/06/2007 18:06

The media are obsessed with celebrity.

It saves lazy journalists from Real Work.

I don't care at all, oh no, not me, I am very highbrow.

donnie · 04/06/2007 18:06

I have come to the conclusion that actually a lot of people are stupid and thick. Plus they are incapable of independent thought and cannot pursue independent interests like reading and so on, and therefore can only cope with instant gratification with no input or effort - like OK magazine or watching big brother.

lljkk · 04/06/2007 18:06

I think the media and media types are obsessed with celebrity. Presumably magazines wouldn't sell if a lot of people weren't, too.

DANCESwithnewlytannedlegs · 04/06/2007 18:06

Good question Twig...I am intending to not watch one second of 'sleb' producing big brother...pah...

iota · 04/06/2007 18:10

not me guv.
I don't buy or read Hello, Ok, Heat or any of the other mags - I had to look Heat up at the newsagents because I saw it mentioned on here.

I had to laugh at Paris Hilton headlining the news today - someone who is famous for having rich parents goes to jail and it is the top news story! good grief

unknownrebelbang · 04/06/2007 18:11

Let me think about this...

erm...

NO!!!!!!!!!!!

Otter · 04/06/2007 18:11

somwone famous off a 'rural' soap frequents our practice!

I have trained myself to be non- plussed when he comes in!!!!!

Original poster
Twiglett · 04/06/2007 18:12

Homes & Gardens .. yes?

(never looked at a copy of Heat in my life .. nor Hello/OK)

OP posts:
WanderingTrolley · 04/06/2007 18:13

I bet more teenagers know who cuts Kylie's hair than know who is the shadow foreign secretary.

Oh.

I have no idea who the shadow foreign secretary is but I'll hazard a guess it isn't Nicky Clarke. I am not a teenager.

DANCESwithnewlytannedlegs · 04/06/2007 18:14

Good for you but you know Twig,you have your own celebrities, they are called...

Linney

Tuck

and Ming Ming tooooooooooo

donnie · 04/06/2007 18:14

yes precisely iota - not one person has posted on my thread about the six day war. I did notice that the big brother thread, however, had a few hundred posts. So I guess we can take that to be a clear reflection of society's concerns and interests, if MN is a microcosm of society.

wannaBe · 04/06/2007 18:22

I could care less about celebrities, but I think more people do than care to admit it. I got a fairly frosty reception to my comment of "who cares" on the "has Katie price had her baby yet" thread because "why can't we just wish them wel after all they've been through" ... oh I wish everyone eell, I just don't know them and therefore it's not relevant to my life whether she's had a baby or whether she's even pregnant.

And I think that people who watch big brother are just thick.

donnie · 04/06/2007 18:23

well hats off to you wannabe for actually saying that - I agree. they are thick.

Original poster
Twiglett · 04/06/2007 18:23

Dances .. you evil witch !

OP posts:
WanderingTrolley · 04/06/2007 18:24

We now have this strange situation where we can't just revere slebs, as we did in the 1950's when they were glam and not coked up saddos. Now we have to connect with them, and have this perverse dichotomy whereby they are better than us, but just the same.

lol wannabe about BB.

SockPuppetOfDeath · 04/06/2007 18:25

I do worry about the intellectual capacity of Big Brother watchers, I must agree.

(Although I must also admit I don't have a sage contribution to make about the six day war, either... Sorry, donnie!)

Desiderata · 04/06/2007 18:26

I think it's mainly media driven. In RL, I come across very few people who mention celebrities (apart from sportsmen which is different). In fact it's so rare, that when someone does, everyone turns round to stare.

And I wholly agree about Big Brother. It's a very thick thing to do.

LucyJones · 04/06/2007 18:30

I love that you peoplke think us watching BB wand reading Heat are thick
Most of my friends went to univeristy, have pretty good jobs (teachers, lawyers etc) but still love reality TV.
I think it's escapism... so all you clever people who don't watch it must have dead easy lives to not need to escape anything
God, where would we be without trash TV... I guess you all watch Newsnight and read the FT

donnie · 04/06/2007 18:30

and the new statesman, in my case.

LucyJones · 04/06/2007 18:31

what do you watch on TV though

Original poster
Twiglett · 04/06/2007 18:32

well personally I don't watch because its such banal trite and shows the worst possible side of UK life

I find it embarrassing rather than entertaining that we have brought up generations of vaccuous nobodies who strive to be the first people to have sex on tv

euwwwww

OP posts:
donnie · 04/06/2007 18:32

I don't have a telly.....I'm too clever. I only read and listen to radio 4.

Tinker · 04/06/2007 18:33

Not remotely interested in celebrity but I do get sucked into BB. I am a cultural multi-tasker, it is possible to be both

LucyJones · 04/06/2007 18:33

but why does it make me thick that I choose to watch it?

LoveAngel · 04/06/2007 18:34

I don't think watching BB necessarily means you are thick. Sad, maybe, but not thick.

I must admit - I quite like flicking through a celebrity magazine with a big bar of chocolate in my hand/gob every now and then. The thing is, I don't take it too seriously. Its just a mindless bit of entertainment I like to indulge in once in a while. Not everything I do has to be intelligent / stimulating / worthwhile, after all. I can waste time being idle and frivilous now and then, surely? And I read shitloads of 'proper books'. And broadsheet newspapers. And The New Statesman (shrinks back and goes a bit red)...and stuff. I ain't thick, right! lol :-)

Anyway....the problem seems to be when superficial, throwaway entertainment is ALL people are interested in (I agree, this does seem to be an increasing trend in our media). And when people actually aspire to 'being a celebrity' (ie. being rich and famous for doing absolutely nowt as far as I can see), rather than having an interesting life, full of adventure - and one where they help and inmspire others, not just sit on their arses in business class consuming. Its really, really sad that so many young girls would rather be like Jordan big tittage or Kerry huge knockers than a scientist or writer or explorer. So, to conclude (in my waffly way) I am only intereste din cleebroty in the vaguest, most humourous sort of way. Anyone who takes it all too seriously and actually wants to be like Parasite Hilton or whoever - eejits.