"Reality" Gossip
Thomas Babcock
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Americans are sculptors and they are vultures. They can mold a celebrity through praise and endearment to create an impossible image of perfection and beauty. Similarly, they can also tear them down at the first sign of flaw in the most selfish, savage way possible.
Tiger Woods has been the media’s darling for years. He appeared on The Mike Douglas Show with Bob Hope at the age of two and for 31 years led the life guys aspire to live. Nevertheless, the media clawed Tiger apart despite his pleas for privacy.
In addition to the media, people Woods has trusted have also sold their story for a lump of money. The National Inquirer paid a woman named Ashley Sampson $25,000 for a story about Tiger Woods’ mistress Rachel Uchitel.
This is just one of many smelling the blood in the air. Jaime Grubbs, a former reality television star also saw a golden opportunity to sell her story. “All signs point to a payday as a motivating factor,” reported msnbc.msn.com. “Some rumors put her Us magazine compensation in the ballpark of $100,000.”
The sad truth is this is just a disturbing trend in the TMZ era.
Britney Spears was once Hollywood’s pure little starlet. She was thrown into the spotlight at a young age and soaked in the benefits that come with fame and fortune.
Subsequently, for whatever reason, she lost her mind and began doing outrageous, possibly suicidal things. Yet, the paparazzi and tabloids saw this as an opportunity for financial gain, not the tragedy it was.
For example, pictures of Britney, especially damaging ones like shaving her head, can make for a huge paycheck. “Paparazzi sell their photos to the highest bidder,” according to howstuffworks.com. “Depending on the quality, subject and situation, photos can go for anywhere between a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.”
Consequently, according to paidcontent.org the celebrity gossip business is a thriving one: “TMZ’s revenues for 2008 were $25.4 million.” This is why tabloids like The National Enquirer, and Hollywood stalker networks like E! prosper.
However the media is not solely to blame, according to msnbc.msn.com, “TMZ has succeeded, at least partly, because its users aspire to be what they see.”
In fact, how could you blame them for cashing in on a market that is obviously booming? As long as the viewers keep tuning to admire celebrities these outlets will not be going anywhere.
The truth is the public is the culprit.
Until we realize the people we aspire to be like are just as imperfect as ourselves, and stop trying to ruin lives of those a little more fortunate for some easy money, the vicious business of celebrity gossip will continue to make millions.