Sunday, February 19, 2012

Whitney, Adele and Matt...oh my.

I have come to realize something. This country simply cannot exist without stuff that is either SO trivial or so NOT our business, and I mean every single DAY. 
First up, and I do NOT mean to alienate ANYONE today, but I feel that my job here when I signed up to do a blog was to do at least one of three things while I'm here. Either to make you laugh, think or smile (there IS a difference between laughing because you're amused or smiling because something rings true or you just like it), and today I hope to make you think, so...first up is Whitney Houston.
I am SO weary of people slinging the word ICON around like it means something totally different. The closest definition that I could find that wasn't religiously based was "picture or image".  She was/is NOT an icon, the implication being that she was more than a mere mortal, which she certainly was NOT. Was she a great singer, yeah, sure. She was a very talented girl and her songs were memorable, no issue there at all, but I'm sorry, once you get involved with a drug using loser, sell your family/children out for a buck while you air your rather sordid life out on a "reality" show for money to ostensibly buy more drugs while you scar your kid(s), as is obvious now, for life, you are no longer much more than any other flesh peddler who sells themselves/others for money. I totally understand being self-destructive, okay? But when you not only destroy yourself, but your kid, you are NOT to be celebrated, but maybe pitied. She had every chance to turn her life around, and didn't. She was just as determined to self-destruct as Lindsay Lohan obviously is. Do people stumble and fall sometimes? Of course, a lot of us do. BUT, the difference is that SOME actually WANT to conquer their demons (Drew Barrymore, Robert Downey, Jr, etc ), and eventually GET it and do so, and those that do NOT, like Miss Lohan and the really tedious Charlie Sheen. And yet there are those that just eat up every word written about these people. Whitney Houston's death was something of a tragedy, in that she has left some terrible ripples to settle, namely her poor daughter, who endured the humiliation of their life, and living it on TV every week. I hope that poor child ends up in a loving and stable environment where SHE can get some help, finally. The rest of it, the specials and all that, just glorify the sad person Ms. Houston had become, and all the bad stuff gets swept under the rug, and suddenly she's some sort of angel. It's so sad that the world has to come to a screeching halt because someone that has chosen a destructive life died, is all I'm saying. 
And then we have Adele. If there is a worldwide shortage of false eyelashes and hair extensions, falls, tracks and other hairpieces, I know where they went. Is this girl a talented singer, yeah, she's good, but again, she's being elevated to ICON status, and WHY??? There are plenty of singers JUST as good or better. Okay, she's had some serious health scares (which were really none of anyone's business), and apparent issues with a very absent father (again, SO not something she should be airing in public), and does she really have SO little faith in her fans that she has to make such a deal about this "sex tape" thing? Does it actually SAY it is really HER? I couldn't find anything that explicitly said so, just implications, but maybe I'm not that good at researching porn. And if she is SUCH an angel, WHY in the world would she buy a ridiculously huge mansion when she doesn't need it and could be doing something philanthropic with a little of her money? Sure, it's her money to spend any way she wants, but man, WHERE do so many famous people GET the "handlers" they have to help them decide what TO do and NOT to do with themselves and their fame and money? And are they SO oblivious to the world that they cannot SEE the bad decisions these people are making for them. Be grownups, for heaven sake!! Michael Jackson, as messed up as that poor soul was because of his father, went on some simply obscene shopping sprees in his time, BUT before he did that, he did a LOT of good with his earnings FIRST. As much crap as happened to him as he grew up, and as much as it warped his self-image, He still managed to live his life with some dignity. Was he eccentric, YEAH, of course. Did he harm anyone in the process but himself? No. His kids grew up NOT in the spotlight that he could have so easily exploited for money, but didn't, and because of that, they seem pretty well grounded and normal. I do not wish Adele any ill will. I am happy to see someone NOT a size 0 making good in the world, that's terrific, but all the hoopla, take about half the eyelashes and hair OFF and just be a really good singer, would you?
As for Matt Bomer. He has come "out". Was it a surprise to anyone, really? I've seen models on a catwalk with more manly walks, come on now. At one point, in the entertainment industry, it WAS considered brave to admit you were gay, NOW it's a snooze. In the movies and on TV, gays play straight, straight play gay, Aussies, Irish and others play American, and American's play everything. No one cares any more. At least all he really did was acknowledge his family at an award ceremony and didn't make a DEAL out of it, and for that, I thank him profusely. Someone famous actually downplayed something!! He simply thanked his family, and you were to take it from there. I applaud the minimalist approach for a change.  Apparently someone gay took a cue from Neil Patrick Harris, less is more. 
Am I interested in other people's lives, sure. Famous people, of course, it can be interesting. But their dirty laundry? Well I have seen enough "mighty" fall to know that EVERYONE has problems, even the rich and/or famous. I'd much rather hear about the good stuff they do than the embarrassments they make of themselves and all the time and money wasted in glorifying it.
Sorry I'm on a rant today, but just sayin'
Dragonfly

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