Dear God, I cannot express in words how completely tired I am of seeing dead celebrities on the cover of magazines.
Celebrities are truly immortal, and I don't just mean this in the schmaltzy way in which their contributions to this country will live on forever. I mean that even though mortality has taken away their earthly form, the go on continuing to earn money even after they die. It is incredible to me. The money from movie sales, record sales, estate auctions, merchandise, and everything in between, they all receive a cut as the contributing artist. According to Forbes magazine, the highest earning dead celebrity in the country right now is Michael Jackson. Try to act surprised. And he has that first spot firmly secured, too. He earns $125 million dollars every year, clearing the second placeholder, Elvis Presley, who only makes $55 million every year. But considering he's been dead for over fifty years, that's not bad. That's probably where Michael Jackson will be in about half a century.
I hate it when celebrities die of questionable causes and we automatically turn them into martyrs. And it doesn't always happen, either. When Heath Ledger died three years ago, there was a lot of coverage in the news, but there were no Oprah specials or anything like that. It was a tragedy to this country that an incredibly talented young man had lost his life, but it was nothing like this Whitney Houston ordeal in which we've completely blown her out of proportion. She was doing A LOT of drugs, and engaging in reckless behavior, and when she dies of an overdose, all of the sudden, this country is ready to canonize her. It is completely ridiculous. We talked about sensationalism in my TCOM classes quite often, and about Little White Girl syndrome. Two words: KASEY ANTHONY.
I don't have a very rosy outlook on this kind of thing. I don't think it's going to get any better. I think it's going to take some kind of world-wide pandemonium to get America to reevaluate its priorities in the media.
I'm not familiar with the term "Little White Girl syndrome," what is that?
ReplyDeleteFirst off I would just like to say, I had no idea dead celebrities are still getting paid. That is insane. I don't even know how to process that information, it makes no sense to me.
About broadcasting news, I agree it is very disheartening at what the media decides to plaster across the front page. It's all about entertainment and what will generate the most gossip.
Going along with what you said about the extensive coverage on Whitney Houston instead of Heath Ledger (who also died of overdose, I might add), I find it disheartening at what the media decides to portray. Let me give you an example: Lindsay Lohan. She's infamous for being in and out of rehab, doing stupid things, etc. Do you remember Hillary Duff? I totally forgot about her until one day I was waiting for my friend and flipping through a teen magazine. There was a short article about Hillary Duff and how she was volunteering with some kids in other countries. Curious, I looked her up when I got home. The reason she's fallen off the map? She isn't doing stupid, crazy things. She is doing things to help out her community and staying out of troube. THAT is something that should be broadcasted in the news, to spread awareness about issues, not about Charlie Sheen's latest stunt.
It's depressing.