The other night while out with friends, a chick tried to, and failed miserably at, flirting with me. After the epic failure, we all sat in uncomfortable silence until her friend said something about a certain trashy reality star's pregnancy. Then the two of them were off to the races. I kid you not, they blabbered on and on for a half hour about every reality "star" on the planet. And I wanted to shoot myself. I give zero fucks about those people. And it's ridiculous that this is what society has come to. My, how times have changed. Sex tapes are now the way to become a "star". The half-wits who make them are considered role models. Those "role models" every thought and action is documented via Twitter and taken as gospel by their "followers". The "Look At Me, Look At Me!" Culture is something I just don't understand. Humans crack jokes about how easily animals are amused; dogs chasing their tails, cats chasing the beam of a flashlight, yet we don't realize it takes just as little to entertain us as it does our animal counterparts. We latch on to the latest viral video or fad and pass it around as if it's oxygen. As a society, we are fascinated by pointless shit. And that's what keeps this 'look at me' culture afloat - everyone is an enabler. Some people seem to think the world needs to know their every thought and action so they document it on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. Social media is the biggest enabler of all. People are so paranoid about the government filming them and knowing too much information about them, yet they're all gung ho about putting personal things on Facebook for all to see. It's ridiculous how little it takes to be famous nowadays. You need no talent at all. Just opportunity. And if the opportunity doesn't freely present itself, people create it themselves.
Let's have a look at the "KK" empire, shall we? (I won't use the actual name of the publicity whores). How did they gain relevance? Well, they had a minor brush with fame with the family patriarch represented a very famous murderer. But that wasn't enough I guess. Years later, the supposed best looking one palled around with other trust fund socialites on red carpets and people began to take notice of her. But it wasn't until the "leaked" sex tape that she really became somebody. What should have been a quick pop culture moment of homemade porn gone viral instead turned into a career opportunity to be seized. Next came a reality show with the entire family. Then a reality marriage that, surprise, didn't last. While involved in a divorce process that far outlasted the actual marriage, the golden child got knocked up by a temperamental rapper. Nearly nine months later, they seem to be on the outs and her family is questioning his motives. There so much wrong with this story. First of all, the fucked up matriarch of the clan used her daughter's sex tape to further the family's careers. Which is wrong on so many levels. Second, the chick that millions of girls idolize and millions of other women see as someone who is talented and successful, is dumb as a box of rocks. She married, then divorced one fool. Made a sex tape with another fool. Married yet another fool for publicity. Divorced said fool weeks later when she was done with him. Then for knocked up by ANOTHER fool whilst still married to the previous fool. So the moral of the story is that sex tapes, divorce and adultery will get you everywhere in life. As long as you have a fame hungry stage mother to steer the wheel. I'm sure there will be more divorces, more adultery and more babies down the road. And every one will be lauded as the second coming by stupid people who think reality shows are actually real.
Would the aforementioned clan be as successful without social media? Possibly. The celebrity tabloid culture has always been alive and kicking. But social media definitely adds another layer. The problem with social media is that it allows us to blurt out things in the heat of moment, only to take it back later. An acquaintance of mine "came out" via Facebook a few years ago. Two weeks later another FB post informed us all that she was not in fact a lesbian and that it had only been a phase. Without social media, nobody would have known about that phase. But with social media, it became a story that everybody suddenly had an opinion about. The same is true of most celebrity news and gossip today. Why the fuck do people care s out a talentless, spoiled pop star's pet monkey? Why are there people who strive to be "the next" talentless pop or reality star? Back in the day, my generation idolized people with legit talent. Oscar winners, Grammy winners (back when the award was given for true musical achievement, now it's just a popularity contest), athletes who paid their dues. Now? People idolize those who have done next to nothing and end up becoming millionaires. A friend told me about some dudes who put a video of themselves on the internet doing some stupid shit and now have a production company and show because it went viral. Yet I know several college educated, truly talented people who can't get jobs, let alone become millionaires. It's fucked up. The whole machine is fucked up. And sadly, it will likely only get worse. This is the kinda shit that makes me not want to have anymore kids. What's the point when you take a look around and see the world they will grow up in? I shudder to think what the 'look at me' culture will be like in another five years. Scary times.
