Thursday, February 08, 2007

Celebrity Status

I will admit, I was not one of the Popular Kids growing up. In fact if anything, I was the Anti-Popular Kid. I scorned their superficiality and their obsequiousness. I hated that adults didn't see through their Eddie Haskell shells into the steamy pit of hypocrisy that was high school. I think now when we look at celebrities, the old images kick in. It's easy to hate the pretty girl who gets caught (finally) doing dumb, dangerous things. It's laughable to see the pretty boy get busted for possession or abuse or littering. It's an easy target and one that most of us are unwilling to defend.

Here I will digress. I was never a fan of Anna Nicole Smith. She seemed every bit the shallow, stupid, sex goddess that everyone assumed she was. And I suppose that in itself was her downfall. She left a small town in Texas to model for Playboy. That's not exactly a positive environment for a dumb small town girl. I am sure she was used and in that step learned to use her assets to her best advantage. She married a hideously old man for money. Had a baby, lost a son and died in the same twelve month period. As I posted elsewhere, this is like a Greek Tragedy on speed. While it's easy to dismiss her as just another greedy dead blonde bimbo, I can't help but wonder how much of this entire scenario was due to her experience as a celebrity. I can't help but wonder if she had stayed in a small town, married the boy next door, had normal kids and a normal life, if she wouldn't still be alive. You may not have liked her or her image, but she brings too mind too many broken starlets that seem to share the same shattered end. Marilyn, Judy, Liz, how many more people is the Hollywood machine going to chew up?

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