Our in class discussion on Charlie Sheen really got me thinking.
Why is our world so captivated by a man with a terrible moral compass? Sheen is a drug-addict, he has been involved in domestic disputes, and he just recently lost the only thing he had going for him: his career. All of these are terrible facets of Sheen's character, but the worst part of his character is how little remorse he shows for any of his wrong-doings. In fact, Sheen thinks a lot of what he's done wrong has been a gift to those who've witnessed it.
So, why do we care about him? Why do we want to know what he has to say? Sheen isn't a role model. His advice isn't, by any means worthwhile. Yet, we're still interested and entertained by what he has to say.
Sheen's celebrity got me thinking about the celebrity of Perez Hilton. Sheen's celebrity and Hilton's celebrity, though different in how they began, are quite the same in how they maintain.
Perez, a famous blogger (his blog can be read here) is a created celebrity. He is famous for his posts which cover the latest gossip about celebrities of various genres. Perez is negative, he has an attitude, he makes fun of nearly every celebrity he chooses to talk about, but he's infamous. In fact, I'll admit it - there was even a time where his blog was the homepage to my laptop; it was purely entertaining.
Within the first 6 months of Perez's blogging career, his blog was named one of Hollywood's most hated websites. Nonetheless, his page was getting millions of views a day.
Charlie Sheen is one of the most hated actors across the country right now, but his Twitter following surpassed that of Lady Gaga in just one day.
And so I pose the question, do we love to hate?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interested that you brought up Perez Hilton when discussing the public's love for hating others, and more specifically, hating celebrities. As you mentioned in your post, Perez was extremely negative and was known for making fun of Hollywood's most recognizable stars in nearly every post on his blog.
ReplyDeleteYet, Perez has spoken out against the bullying, including cyberbullying, of many teens. Although I commend Hilton's efforts to end online harassment, it seemed rather hypocritical that Hilton, who became famous for trashing celebrities, would comment on bullying. Though it may not have been intentional, Perez Hilton was a cyber bully himself.
I believe that it was Khloe Kardashian who pointed out that Perez was engaging in the same bullying that he was trying to eradicate. I have followed Perez Hilton's site for nearly four years, and since this issue was addressed, I have seen a change in many of the blogger's posts. Rather than posting stories saturated with his sarcasm and negativity, it seems as though Perez has been making a conscious effort to put positive spins on his stories by offering encouragement to troubled stars, disputing celebrity rumors, and framing and composing posts in a more positive manner. Though his stories are still entertaining, and he still seems to find the most outlandish celebrity stories, Perez has seemed to curtail his love for hating on celebrities.
I also thought that it was very interesting to note Perez Hilton's change of posts to his website. He was certainly a bully for many years when he would trash talk celebrities and put them down for their weight, fashion accidents, and party behavior. He changed his ways last fall after the slew of suicides due to bullying and vowed to "be the change that he wants to see in others." Since then I have read numerous articles about the sites loss of popularity because of the lack of scathing remarks. I find this sort of strange because in a culture where we seem to worship celebrities, why do we love to tear them down and rip them apart? People love to see them succeed, but love watching them fall even more. (This is very true right now with Charlie Sheen.) Maybe people liked reading Perez because he made celebrities seem less god and goddess like, and more like us...not untouchable.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to read more about his website change, check out this article:
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/13/perez-hilton-says-hes-making-a-change/
I think it is very interesting how someone can become famous by being hated. We discussed the example of The Apprentice's Omarosa in class and watched how she used her bitchiness to get ahead.
ReplyDeleteThis also reminds me of Survivor's Russell Hantz, arguably one of the most hated Survivor contestants to play the game. But so many people loved the guy. They thought he was ruthless and an asshole, but he played the game well. Now he has returned to play in the Survivor: Heros v Villians show.
Also, if you remember some of MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge shows, many of them pitted teams like "the badasses" and "the good guys" against each other.
So, Laura, I would like reposition your question. I'm not so sure that we "love to hate" so much as we "love the haters." We are simply fascinated by others' outrageously hateful/mean/bitchy/ruthless behavior. Everyone has a little bit of "hater" in themselves, and when we see others exaggerating that side (something we don't normally see in everyday life), we become hooked.