Mini Project #3 - Erin Carney

When I went to look over what I had written down this weekend about how often my conversations included topics about celebrities, I wasn’t surprised to find that there wasn’t too much to look over. I stay pretty involved with what is happening in the news, but I try to force myself not to get caught up in every little thing that goes on in Hollywood. As I watch/read the news each day I try to stick to “worldly” events or (as sick as it may seem) the crime and punishment sections. Although, every once in a while, I will find myself turning on E! news.

I spent the weekend hanging out with my boyfriend and his roommates. They aren’t really known to gossip too much about Brangelina or other celebrity spottings, so the weekend passed with very few conversations about famous people. They watch a lot of sports, so many of the names that were casually being tossed around were athletes (most of whom I did not even know).

After my “thrilling” weekend of nothing to report back with, I was getting nervous that I might not have anything to write about for the project. Low and behold, my roommate was waiting up for me Monday night when I returned home. She had the television on and was pretty much waiting for me to walk through the door so that she could discuss the Paris Hilton charges with someone.

My roommate is also not one to get caught up with celebrity gossip; however she happens to be a criminal justice major, so this was right up her alley. Even though I don’t really spend my time talking about celebrities, this was a topic that was convenient for me too. I don’t have many pet peeves, but the ones I do have, really bother me: close talkers, loud chewers, pajama pants worn outside of the house, and Paris Hilton.

Paris Hilton is a prime example of someone who is famous for just being famous. I’m not too familiar with the laws, but I was heated about this subject because I find it incredibly unfair that just because certain criminals happen to be famous, they are often able to escape punishment. If Paris, somehow, finds a way to wiggle herself out of this one, I am going to lose all faith in our justice system. My roommate spent a larger portion of the conversation trying to convince me that there was no possible way that she would be able to get around this one. She had violated her probation (which was made very clear to her if she had only opened her own mail instead of having someone do it for her), and the law is the law. Her reassurance was able to calm me down a bit.

For not caring so much about celebrities, I certainly was heated about this topic, for more than just one reason. I think the thing that irks me even more than the loophole in the justice system is the fact that no matter where we hide, we just can’t escape the Paris-Hilton-pseudo-event-type news that the media is cramming into our impressionable little heads. Even though OJ Simpson was a celebrity, at least the man was on trial for murder. That is a tad more newsworthy than Paris Hilton’s trial for violating probation for a DUI. Why is the media trying to make us care so much about a stupid, spoiled, rich girl? I guess the better question is, why do we care so much?