Everyday, millions of people either go to a gossip website, or pick up a copy of a People magazine to catch up on what their favorite celebrity is wearing, doing, and saying. For some reason we all just need to know what kind of scandals these people are involved in and what their babies look like. Why is it that we are so obsessed with gossip? The entertainment media industry is booming and shows no sign of ever slowing down. We look up to these people and want to follow the same trends that they start, but the same things they buy and eat at the same places they eat. According to society, celebrities live perfect lives, they’re rich and famous and looking at their lives is an escape from our “mediocre” lives that apparently aren’t good enough for us. Our society is shaped by the changes that the entertainment world inflicts on all of us.
Entertainment media is everywhere. We see it on our televisions, hear it on our radios and read it in the magazines. We love to look at the lives of the rich and famous. Television shows like “The Fabulous Life of…” which shows all the extravagant things that the fabulously rich can do with their money. Vacations to exotic islands, fifteen-hundred dollar pairs of shoes, and diamonds galore, all things that normal class citizens can only dream of having, are displayed on this show. These kinds of shows make all of us wish we had more. You may find yourself saying your life isn’t good enough and that if you had more money you would be happier. This brings is back to the hat most famous question, can money buy you happiness? Well, by the looks of these celebrities it can. It is important for people to have goals, but its also important to have realistic goals, and living like a celebrity is not realistic. People become so obsessed with a life like that they forget to appreciate what they have.
Entertainment media doesn’t only affect our dreams of having millions of dollars, it also affects our personal views we have on our bodies and minds. Everyone compares their bodies to the bodies they are seeing in the movies and on TV. Beauty for women is defined by a small waist, perfect legs, a large bust and a perfect white smile, according to our society. Today so many young girls are looking up to these women, and think that in order to be beautiful they must have flawless skin and a perfect flat stomach. So many girls are having problems with their self esteem, and we are all to blame. Diseases like anorexia and bulimia are becoming more and more apparent. Society should be more careful and focus on inner beauty and to accept the way that you look. Yes it is important to stay in healthy, but that doesn’t mean you have to be stick thin and look like your airbrushed all the time. And it’s not only the women that are facing these kinds of problems. Young men are too. With the media portraying the perfect man to be tall, and have a sculpted, toned, body, some men are using artificial means of achieving larger muscles. These substances can lead to major health problems in the future.
However, the entertainment media world isn’t only affecting the way we view our physical appearance, it is also affecting the way we think and our mental actions. In the recent years, many different stars have been having numerous problems with drugs and alcohol, and are being sent to rehabilitation centers. Every week we hear about a new celebrity being sent off to rehab and its making it almost seem “cool” to us. Dr. Drew Pinsky, who has is a show on VH1 called “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” say, “People think celebrities are going to some kind of spa treatment program when they go to rehab. They don't understand how hard it actually is.”. With big stars like Britney Spears, Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan going off like it’s just a trip to the nail salon or the spa, we seem to think that having a drug or alcohol problem is not a big deal. "People somehow believe celebrities are different from everyone else," he continued. "They don't understand how much mental disease there is among the famous." (Marikar)
Although, these drug and alcohol problems aren’t the only problems celebrities have that we like to think are okay. Sometimes the promiscuous behavior that we may see on TV shows or just everyday life coming from these stars makes us think that it’s okay to do. The CW’s hit show “Gossip Girl” is a show about the young and fabulously rich teenagers living in New York City and the lives that they live. Many parents are becoming increasingly upset about what they are seeing on this program, thing like underage drinking and partying, and also very promiscuous behavior coming from sixteen and seventeen year olds. Recently the Parents Television Council has become increasingly upset with these events happening on the show when millions of teenagers are watching this show and think that it’s okay to do some of these activities. “Gossip Girl routinely depicts teenage characters engaging in promiscuous and consequence-free sexual behavior, and that’s bad enough. But will you now be complicit in establishing a precedent and expectation that teenagers should engage in behaviors heretofore associated primarily with adult films? Behaviors that not only increase health risks, but which are emotionally and psychologically damaging to participants, as well? I certainly hope not, and I’m sure members of your community and parents of children who watch your network expect more of you”(K. Ward). However, it’s not only the young generation being affected by the crazy world of fame, it’s also the adults. Right now, divorce is the hottest thing in Hollywood. As soon as a celebrity couple gets married, we are making bets to see how long they are going to last for. They make divorce seem like it’s no big deal, and when you have millions it is true that both people in the divorce can be satisfied. However, in the real world, divorce is an ugly matter. It can completely ruin a family especially if there are children involved. Most of the time one person is really left with no money as well. Why are we so obsessed with the lives of the rich and famous? We do look up to these people and try to mimic their actions because they have achieved such great success which is okay, it is important to have role models, but it also important to be happy for what you have. Fame and money doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is happy. We are a society completely in love with gossip and entertainment news. . Perez Hilton, who has the number one celebrity gossip website says, "I just love what I do. "I think it's so exciting. Celebrities are just so crazy. They live in these bubbles and surround themselves with enablers. I love it. They are just so much fun” (Hedegaard). And it is true, it is fun to read up on the latest scandal or the new movie starring a big A-list celebrity, but when it starts to dictate our actions, that’s when it becomes a problem. It is called entertainment media for a reason, it is there to entertain us and that’s it. We need to learn how to draw the line between what is reality and what its Hollywood, and be more appreciative for the lives that we have instead of the lives of the rich and famous.