[besson3c]

Brittney Spears has a dedicated "top story" link on CNN along with some other issues that are actually important (you know, where people die and stuff). I've been avoiding stories about her because I really don't care, but my curiosity finally got the best of me since so much emphasis on the site was devoted to her.

So, I click through, and I find some stories about child custody stuff, alcohol, etc. Really, this is not unusual stuff, and definitely not exciting.

What excitement do people see in this crap, and is it wrong for CNN to give this story this level of attention? Why do people care?

[starman]

Leave Britney Alone!

[Kerrigan]

People care about Britney because we live in a materialist culture, and the entertainment industry foists moronic celebrities into the spotlight and expects us to pay attention to them. And attention is paid to them, usually by the insecure adolescents who buy their CDs, perhaps seeing within the celebrity a reflection of their own fantasy-based self image. If/when the celebrity self-destructs, people watch with fascination as they try to sort through the reality and fantasy of the breakdown. Is it tragic? Is it funny? Is it even real?

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

What excitement do people see in this crap, and is it wrong for CNN to give this story this level of attention? Why do people care?

Because she's a celebrity gone wild like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and everybody knows that stories about Parsaytney Spilhan are what drives teh traffic these days.

I agree with you. Totally disgusting. There's more important news, like who we're going to be deciding among for our next president in 10 months, and CNN is giving top billing to the celebrity meltdown-du-jour?

[besson3c]

Well, CNN is also "Election Central 2008", and I definitely have my complaints about how they are treating the election as a giant sensational horse race, not even educating people as to what delegates are and such, but I guess that's another story

[iMOTOR]

Misery loves company, people get turned on every time they hear that some celebs life might suck as bad or worse than theirs.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Well, CNN is also "Election Central 2008", and I definitely have my complaints about how they are treating the election as a giant sensational horse race, not even educating people as to what delegates are and such, but I guess that's another story

Yup. That's part of the reason that in addition to CNN and Fox News (CNN seems to have a somewhat Democratic leaning and Fox a Republican leaning) I try to read a few Greek news websites (like Eleftherotypia and Express) and I watch some of the newscasts on Skai.

At least with the Greek sites I get none of the celebrity fluff (though I do get tired of hearing about the latest Greek political-scandal-du-jour) and more objective news that's not filtered through either political party's lens, so to speak. I like reading the BBC News pages too.

[Love Calm Quiet]

Because of fascination over how attention hoars repeatedly prove that "there's a sucka born every minute" ?

[analogika]

Gossip columnists have had a market for ages, making people feel better about their lives by showing them that "celebrities" don't necessarily have it better, or by giving them vicarious (mostly fictional) drama.

[PaperNotes]

Because we like a good drama and there is nothing more entertaining than watch a celebrity crash and burn.

Are rocket launchers legal to own btw?

[PaperNotes]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

People care about Britney because we live in a materialist culture

Da, comrade.

[Dork.]

Schadenfreude - Definitions from Dictionary.com

[Dakar the Fourth]

Oh no, a besson "why?" thread!

[The Placid Casual]

For the same reason that some people slow down to look at car crashes.

She has gone from the Disney Mickey Mouse Club, to Pop Golden Starlet, to losing her kids in a custody battle. That is a crazy fall.

I honestly think there should be an intervention now, for her own good. No matter who the person, i think it is very sad to see a human being being treated like she is. (And I am in *no way* a fan).

[Monique]

Because they have no life.

Just talking about the singer, she actually has no talent, it seems all she can do is badly lipsink (sorry about the spelling) a bad song of hers.

[MacosNerd]

I don't think care is the correct term because I don't think people who watch this stuff care about her.

Its seems to be more of a fascination of seeing someone destroy their life. You know, like watching a train wreck. you now its horrible deep down, but you cannot help but watch. Plus being rich and famous ads a little bitterness to the mix. she had it all and flaunted her fame and fortune, so now that the tide as turned, people are relishing in the fact she's having issues.

[design219]

Some want to be her, some want to **** her, some want to laugh at her. There is a connection.

[exca1ibur]

The question is 'Why does the media think we care about Britney Spears?' If they wouldn't cram the story in our face every day, no one would care.

[turtle777]

Let's show how much we don't care by making threads and posts about her

-t

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Well, CNN is also "Election Central 2008", and I definitely have my complaints about how they are treating the election as a giant sensational horse race, not even educating people as to what delegates are and such, but I guess that's another story

Have you been reading what I've been reading? (Not that one needs to read it to see what's going on...)

Merchants of Trivia Why do the media insist on reducing one of the most exciting presidential primary seasons in American history to a simple horse race?

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Let's show how much we don't care by making threads and posts about her

-t

This is my first and last. I very very very rarely make celebrity threads or threads about stupid things people do, but this story was somewhat interesting to me in a sort of meta analysis way. That is, I don't care at all about the details of the story, but the basic draw our society has towards stories of this nature. You could take this sort of question and go as deep or as shallow with it as you want without even touching upon the nitty gritty of Britney's life.

[BlueSky]

And Britney...she grew up with a sense of entitlement and she's spoiled. She's in a slow-motion train wreck and the news media is concerned with entertainment above all else.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by BlueSky 

Have you been reading what I've been reading? (Not that one needs to read it to see what's going on...)

Merchants of Trivia Why do the media insist on reducing one of the most exciting presidential primary seasons in American history to a simple horse race?

No! I honestly didn't read this story... I got the phrase "horse race" from a PhD dissertation here about how the Daily Show in many ways is as substantive a news source as cable news.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

This is my first and last. I very very very rarely make celebrity threads or threads about stupid things people do, but this story was somewhat interesting to me in a sort of meta analysis way. That is, I don't care at all about the details of the story, but the basic draw our society has towards stories of this nature. You could take this sort of question and go as deep or as shallow with it as you want without even touching upon the nitty gritty of Britney's life.

I guess I fail to see the difference between your thread title and content, as much as I think it's dumb how all these "celebrity" shows on TV (E! etc...) "criticize" the media attention. Damn hypocrits...

-t

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by BlueSky 

And Britney...she grew up with a sense of entitlement and she's spoiled. She's in a slow-motion train wreck and the news media is concerned with entertainment above all else.

Yeah, this was my assumption going into it too, but didn't we get our fix with Michael Jackson? How many freak shows do we need to be spectators for before our appetites are fulfilled?

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Yeah, this was my assumption going into it too, but didn't we get our fix with Michael Jackson? How many freak shows do we need to be spectators for before our appetites are fulfilled?

Um, it's obvious that the general public's appetite for this type of crap will NEVER be satisfied.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Spears shocks shoppers with striptease | ABC Action News | WFTS-TV | First Tampa Bay station in HD

[ajprice]

I'd agree with the slow motion train wreck thing. Also found an article on the strip shopping here (nsfw, Britters flesh pictures inside) - Egotastic! - Britney Spears: Naked Shopper

And this is my quote of the day!

In one way, you've actually got to admire Britney. She is single-handedly redefining the concept of "rock bottom," one meltdown at a time.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

I found another picture of her from the dressing room incident.

NSFW

 

[ort888]

I was watching dumbfounded as CNN was going on and on about her the other day.

The really funny part is that there was a panel of talking heads that said that the reason she was so troubled was because she was unable to have any privacy and the pressure of constantly being scrutinized was making her go nuts. Of course, the entire time they were talking about her, they kept showing embarrassing clips of shot by paparazzi. I guess they failed to see the humor in it.

Or maybe they are just so stupid and out of it they they can't comprehend anything beyond their retarded world of gossipy bull****.

[residentEvil]

is she showing up on anyone's dead pools yet?

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I was watching dumbfounded as CNN was going on and on about her the other day.

The really funny part is that there was a panel of talking heads that said that the reason she was so troubled was because she was unable to have any privacy and the pressure of constantly being scrutinized was making her go nuts. Of course, the entire time they were talking about her, they kept showing embarrassing clips of shot by paparazzi. I guess they failed to see the humor in it.

Or maybe they are just so stupid and out of it they they can't comprehend anything beyond their retarded world of gossipy bull****.

It's disturbing how much pop culture has consumed the 24 hour news networks the past few years. It feels like in the wake of 9/11 and Iraq war, this is their best idea for filling their hours.

Originally Posted by residentEvil 

is she showing up on anyone's dead pools yet?

She was a popular pick on another forum I lurk at.

[subego]

Originally Posted by residentEvil 

is she showing up on anyone's dead pools yet?

I think this has something to do with all the coverage.

She's gone beyond the typical young celebrity odd behavior into found dead in a bathroom territory.

It's hard to tell the difference unless you think about it (which I try not to do), but it's rare that you get failed comeback/divorce/custody battle/substance abuse/fire your entourage/public nudity/schizo accent/chop off your hair/etc... all at once.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I was watching dumbfounded as CNN was going on and on about her the other day.

The really funny part is that there was a panel of talking heads that said that the reason she was so troubled was because she was unable to have any privacy and the pressure of constantly being scrutinized was making her go nuts. Of course, the entire time they were talking about her, they kept showing embarrassing clips of shot by paparazzi. I guess they failed to see the humor in it.

Or maybe they are just so stupid and out of it they they can't comprehend anything beyond their retarded world of gossipy bull****.

Yep, my thoughts exactly.

Originally Posted by turtle777 

I guess I fail to see the difference between your thread title and content, as much as I think it's dumb how all these "celebrity" shows on TV (E! etc...) "criticize" the media attention. Damn hypocrits...

-t

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Idiots like other idiots.

[Mac User #001]

I don't know if they really care about her, but they like talk about her, and will bring focus to her as you have here.

They say any publicity is good publicity, but I don't think its been good for her for a while now.

[smacintush]

Well, you guys are in here discussing how idiots are obsessed with another idiot…so who's the real idiot?

Dammit, now I posted here too…

[besson3c]

It doesn't matter how aggressively you try to avoid hearing about Britney, it just sort of seeps into your subconscious via osmosis... Whether it's some tabloid magazine in the supermarket checkout lane, chatter at the hair salon, late night TV jokes, workplace chatter, you can't escape it!

[Mac User #001]

Now that is true...

Well, I guess you need some sort of subconscious osmosis Britney Spears blocker you can hook up to every night.

[Atomic Rooster]

Will not read this thread as I was under the impression we were under a voluntary moratorium of threads on her and her ilk.

Aren't we?

On a side note the AirBook sucks big time. Apple shares fell cuz of underwellmingness. I can't figure who the target consumers are except for a few rich MacToy collectors.

[rickey939]

Who?

[imitchellg5]

What?