I spent about three hours in a doctors' surgery clinic yesterday waiting for my Mom. I took one of my textbooks that I'm reading for a class called Social Bases of Behavior. The waiting room was pretty full but fairly quiet except for the television that was tuned in to Fox News. I tried to tune it out but they kept promoting an interview that one of their reporters had with Ahmadinejad after his speech at the UN the day prior. Once the interview came on, I put my book down and watched it. I also looked around the waiting room and people were still engrossed in their books, magazines and cell phones with not one person watching the interview. The interview was somewhat interesting and after it was over I went back to my book.
A while later coverage began on Lindsey Lohan entering the courthouse and people all around the room dropped what they were doing and watched intently as the video rolled. Afterward there was a slight buzz of discussion among the people in the waiting room. I wish I could say I was surprised at the reaction but I was not. Yet I found the situation compelling enough to write about it.
What is it with celebrity? Or is it watching someone's downfall that is self-enhancing, somehow making us feel better about ourselves? I thought the situation tied in neatly with this current class on what makes us (as humans) do the things we do. Clearly in terms of who could do the most damage to the U.S. and our lives as we know them is Ahmadinejad who could be the one world leader (in my lifetime) that decides to use nuclear weapons to incite WW III. He certainly is heads and shoulders above Lindsey Lohan on the "world destruction list" of characters. However, she (and those like her - Paris Hilton et al.) could be an insidious destructive force for evil in the way that they have infiltrated our lives and have somehow become the focal point of our concern thereby distracting us while others go about their potentially destructive and deadly business.
I would hope to think that what I observed in the waiting room is not representative of our society but as I surveyed the room it seemed like a good representative with various ages, genders and races. Perhaps the coverage on Ahmadinejad was considered news and the coverage on Lohan was considered entertainment and therefore grabbed the attention of the people in the waiting room?
Hopefully in the coming weeks, I will learn more about this phenonmenon and follow up with an additional post of my findings.
References
[Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2010, from http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/072010/lilo-8.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/articles/lindsay-lohan-finally-goes-jail&usg
[Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2010, from http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.zimtelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/IRAN-PRESIDENT1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.zimtelegraph.com/%3Fp%3D6864&usg
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