Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

COLUMN: Better thing to talk about
By Bob Lynch
Daily Mississippian (U. Mississippi)
06/18/2007

(U-WIRE) OXFORD, Miss. — It has been all over the news networks, magazine covers and tabloid pages throughout the world for the last couple of weeks. With all of this coverage you are apparently a total loser if you are unaware of what is seemingly the most important news we could muster up this month and you are an even bigger loser if you do not seem to care. Yes folks, Paris Hilton went to jail and we are all supposed to care.

Let us just step back and look at all of this from a more rational perspective here. What was her crime? Was it something of major consequence or societal determent?

Not really, she just got caught driving without a license, speeding and under the influence on separate occasions Many people have done worse and a great deal of their crimes have not been considered "newsworthy." Of course she deserves a just punishment in accordance with the law, but do we need CNN to remind us of that?

Is the idea of a 45-day jail sentence for anyone, save whatever celebrity status they may have, unusual?

Not particularly; I am certain the sentencing judge was simply issuing his sentences in accordance with California law, just as he would with any other convicted criminal. Therefore, it really is still a very run-of-the-mill crime and sentencing so why do a lot of us care?

It is Paris Hilton, that is why. She is a celebrity and when celebrities get their due justice it is a typical media circus. All of this really boggles my mind for two reasons: a lot of us really do have some odd sort of interest in all of this, and Paris Hilton is somehow a celebrity.

Seeing all of this makes me wonder why we put celebrity status where we do. If Paris Hilton were an important politician, accomplished scientist, successful athlete, talented artist or an influential entrepreneur I would understand her celebrity status.

However, she is none of that. She is nothing more than a whiny, spoiled, rich, blonde girl who let a blurry videotape of her doing, well, you know, get all over the internet a few years ago. Somehow, all of that has enabled her to become one of the single most recognized people in the entire world!

Please, dear reader, tell me that you see the folly in this. If she were an everyday nobody getting arrested for multiple driving infractions, none of us would care, yet we do care and some of us even feel some sort of pity for the girl.

There are wars, elections, new discoveries and a multitude of other news events occurring every day in our world, yet this is what we have deemed the most important news.

What is my point? Let us seriously consider what is worthy of celebrity or news coverage. I hope a great deal of us can agree that Paris Hilton is simply "famous for being famous" and really deserves none of her fame.

I also hope that we can see that her jail time is, in a relative sense, of very little importance. Please, let's try to focus on those people and events, which advance our global society and are truly worth our attention, not a whining blonde getting a DUI.

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