Why is the United States so culturally retarded that we have to follow every mov!

Why is the United States so culturally retarded that we have to follow every move of Paris + Lindsay?

I just don't understand why every it seems but me is interested in everything Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan do. What's bad is, I dislike them being in the spot light so much that I rant about it and inadvertently am then talking about them! People need to read a book or walk a park.

1 week ago
I just don't understand why everyone it seems but me is interested in everything Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan do. What's bad is, I dislike them being in the spot light so much that I rant about it and inadvertently am then talking about them! People need to read a book or walk a park.

They will continue to cram cultural garbage down our throats as long as people are willing to listen to it, read about it, and watch it on tv. (even with detached, "ironic" interest.) the bottom line is money. As you mentioned, even ranting about them is counterproductive, to a point... because, hey, we're still talking about them.

I suspect that a major, yet mostly subconscious motivation for consumers of this "soft news" is escape. We can either sympathize, laugh at, or rubberneck at the train wreck of whatever daily drama unfolds in Famous Celebrity's life, as if it were a some sort of "reality" show. Lower/middle class populists can revel in the schadenfreude, preteens can get glean fashion tips, bored women can live vicariously through them, and old people who like to be outraged or disgusted at "kids these days" may do so with smug feelings of superiority.

In other words, we can forget about real people that are really dying in Iraq or Darfur or Afghanistan. We can forget about our economic woes, our health care problems, gasoline prices, and etc various other looming distasters... these things are all too depressing, we'd rather just 'change the channel' or tune out completely.

Another smaller "benefit" of consuming this type of media garbage is that, as a sort of shared "cultural" experience, it serves as effective fodder for small talk with acquaintances, strangers, or coworkers.