# Musn't See TV



## gokedik (Sep 19, 2014)

Had I a child, I would never introduce him/her to television until he/she finds it on their own and I wouldn’t have one in my house. Since I quit watching, out of disgust, I’ve become a better writer, more creative and I’ve been available to the people I love. Not wrapped up in a tawdry drama or methodical comedy. “Celebrities” are worshiped and put on a pedestal always out of reach. Like saying, “Wow, that guy is good (at whatever), let’s just enjoy him and not explore our own talents. And support parasites, spending money to watch them, walk through an airport.”    

    There is a reason 50 cameras are in the bushes trying to catch a shot of ‘any one of those of popular fame’ leave a restaurant. People will buy a magazine with these pictures to “OOoo” and “AHH” at the size of someone’s rear or whom their new squeeze is. If you are buying these magazines and not contributing to charity, you should be ashamed of yourself. That is a pointless and useless buy. So, your kitchen is full, fridge, drawers, everything, yeah? Or are you stealing from your own family to buy GARBAGE! Get close to yourself, not someone else’s life. DO NOT cheat yourself out of LIVING, it not bad once you actually allow yourself to and give up these, life substitutes, such as TV, media, in general. And keep your nosy ass on your side of the fence, focus your energy on your families. I know plenty of single Mothers out there that are doing it and are better and more interesting human being’s for it.

    This gossip is no different than that of high school halls lined with lockers. The one’s that were popular maintained their status by taking the occasional cheap shot at a “nerd” or any studious type actually building a future for themselves. And those whom felt invisible, either too plain or just shy went unnoticed until after graduation when they blossom into great artists and scientists. Why would one desire to have the ‘popular kids’ life. They got abused like the rest of us, as adults, they are lost as the rest of us.

    I will not mention any Celebrity’s name in any examples as not to perpetuate the nonsense that I’m trying to suppress. Celebrity’s have this giant soapbox to speak from, yet they don’t tell the people anything  encouraging, just how much you got over on all of your ‘so called’ fans. With their bling, gold, and giant diamonds children and women died for. And they have the nerve to show them off to us broke, hungry and unemployed. Their presence alone demeans the public and the struggling. And we continue to support them. Why do they display our money on their necks, wrists and cars? Do they not realize what they are subconsciously saying? Look how much I got over on these gullible fools. Celebrity’s seem to compete to see whom can hustle the most money out of us. Flaunting their conquests offering only so-called ‘entertainment’ in return. Not paying any mind to the CREATORS themselves but the one’s portraying characters in their work.

    A “Celebrity” can get arrested for drunk driving, possession of illicit drugs, even breaking and entering and they give a pretty mug shot and walk out of the precinct with their fame trending and more interest generated. Any publicity is good publicity, right? If I would have been busted for any of these infractions I’d see the penitentiary. But only when a “celebrity” gets caught cheating the Feds out of their cut does he get a number assigned to him. And, still, goes to the country club version of the pen. Celebrities are rich enough to override government and put into question the very tenets this country was founded on. 

    And it all begins with you buying a magazine.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 19, 2014)

Or watching one of those banal television shows. I don't get all of this "celebriarity" garbage either. Very nice piece Gokedik.


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## hvysmker (Sep 19, 2014)

I can understand your anger, gokedik. I was one of those nerds. All it took was joining the army and  being shot at a few times to change that, he-he.  After that experience I don't give a damn what people think of me. I'll do my own thing.  My only fear at the moment is in large erratic lumps of lead or larger atom bombs.

Anyway, until I was around fifteen, I or my family had never owned a television set. If we had, we'd have gotten one or two channels on a rabbit-ear antenna. It wasn't worth the money to buy one.

Even when older and on my own, making my own living, I bought one because it was expected of me, the same as a refrigerator or radio, but it sat alone in a corner of my living room. I had a program or two I liked and would watch it if home, not a work, and happened to think of it.

That continued until 1985, when, to save money, instead of spending my free  time in bars, I consciously decided to drink at home, watching tv and reading, then I'd take a good nap before going to those same bars late at night before they closed.. That was the time when loose women were liquored up an willing, me only slightly inebriated.  I did save money.  Still, I did more reading than watching.

Presently, now that I'm writing, I've learned not to let the tv bother me. I normally have it on, playing in the background, without watching more than a few minutes an hour.  I've learned to ignore it.

Like you, I'm not the least interested in subjects most people seem to value. Such would be television, R&R, or sports. The only sport I  value is sporting women.

Charlie


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## gokedik (Sep 20, 2014)

hvysmker said:


> I can understand your anger, gokedik. I was one of those nerds. All it took was joining the army and  being shot at a few times to change that, he-he.  After that experience I don't give a damn what people think of me. I'll do my own thing.  My only fear at the moment is in large erratic lumps of lead or larger atom bombs.
> 
> Anyway, until I was around fifteen, I or my family had never owned a television set. If we had, we'd have gotten one or two channels on a rabbit-ear antenna. It wasn't worth the money to buy one.
> 
> ...


First, Thank you for you time and thorough critique/comment. I, too, used to let TV ruminate behind me but then feared being influenced unintentionally. So out went TV and radio. Artist on the radio are owned by someone. Independent artists rarely spend the money to be heard on the radio and refuse to be owned by a company, I respect that. Turning down gobs of money to own their masters and control the Art they produce. I respect that. They don't sport gold rope chains around their neck or diamond studded watches. The underground is a crowded place.

As a boy TV was the only entertainment offered me and I bought in hook-line-and-sinker. Craving logos and detrimental monetary wealth. At 20 I had a job working shipping receiving manager at a book store, no TV, and started reading Hemingway. Probably the best move I made in my life. I stay away from that mind dissolving agent. I hadn't started writing, yet, but the seed was planted.

As an adult, now, I've no interest in Celebrity. I heard that writer fame is the best because to you might get invited to dinners but nobody knows you on the street. And the only thing around my neck are prayer beads. Oh, and I love and respect women, also.


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## Seedy M. (Sep 20, 2014)

I spent six years being a "celebrity" in the hippie era. We did have a message, at least, but most of that was taken out of music in the late seventies. I was performing (which I seldom did. I was writing and arranging) with a major band in '74. It had gotten so commercialized I quit in disgust the moment my contract ran out and never looked back.
I made a lot of money, but was disgusted with most of the people I met who had money. They seemed so empty. I gave it away or bought truly idiotic things. I left the business owing a lot.
TV? I never cared much for anything except the innovative comedy things that today's crap fails to achieve. TV movies weren't about blowing up everything in sight and crashing boats, car, trains, and planes. Children's programmed were Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner. Today's are karate and bombs and guns when they're not about swords and spears.
Programming ... is what's happening to your children.
I've been very fortunate in some ways, in that I've found a place where the system of values is quite different, though the cities are the same the world over. The Indigenos have no TV or movies or cars or "things". They are an inclusive society who don't even really understand money. They are non-violent and don't care to watch that crap on TV or anywhere else.
They are not religious, either. They already live in paradise. Why be enslaved by the concept of a god who makes rules and demands of your life?
Your first priority is your Family, which is a mate and your children. Next comes your family, the, what you'd call "tribe", I suppose. Next is the greater society. Last is you.
If you're trapped in the states or most "first world" countries, you are so brainwashed and controlled you can't see the real world or real values when they're right in front of you. Most are so controlled and programmed they can't see it when they're right here with it.
You can leave the place and programming you came from, but 99% will bring it with them. They can't push it away because it's inside of them.
A very sad pity.


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## gokedik (Sep 20, 2014)

Seedy M. said:


> I spent six years being a "celebrity" in the hippie era. We did have a message, at least, but most of that was taken out of music in the late seventies. I was performing (which I seldom did. I was writing and arranging) with a major band in '74. It had gotten so commercialized I quit in disgust the moment my contract ran out and never looked back.
> I made a lot of money, but was disgusted with most of the people I met who had money. They seemed so empty. I gave it away or bought truly idiotic things. I left the business owing a lot.
> TV? I never cared much for anything except the innovative comedy things that today's crap fails to achieve. TV movies weren't about blowing up everything in sight and crashing boats, car, trains, and planes. Children's programmed were Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner. Today's are karate and bombs and guns when they're not about swords and spears.
> Programming ... is what's happening to your children.
> ...


I agree that I am stuck in a bubble of propaganda and monetary value at every turn. I listen to music every morning that is grossing the grain, a Latino who is self-educated via prison speaking about the corruption we are subjected to here in America and an Arab man living in England speaking about the Middle East debacle. I  have not watched television in years. I'm desperate to leave the bubble but am unsure how to do it clean. And have my health needs met. Thank you for your time, once again, and your intensive comment. Thank you, friend.


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## dither (Sep 20, 2014)

..

Terry D is right.


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## Gyarachu (Sep 20, 2014)

gokedik said:


> There is a reason 50 cameras are in the bushes trying to catch a shot of ‘any one of those of popular fame’ leave a restaurant. People will buy a magazine with these pictures to “OOoo” and “AHH” at the size of someone’s rear or whom their new squeeze is. If you are buying these magazines and not contributing to charity, you should be ashamed of yourself. That is a pointless and useless buy. So, your kitchen is full, fridge, drawers, everything, yeah? Or are you stealing from your own family to buy GARBAGE!



I remember hearing a statistic that something like 30,000 people die of starvation a day. In the connected world we live in, it is quite literally within my power to save some of those lives. For the average Joe not on the hunger-fighting frontier, it is as easy as giving money to an organization (with of course ample research into which ones are reputable and effective). You and I can save people with our money. That is no exaggeration.

For this reason it always angers me when people (including myself) buy stupid things. We have a choice of what to do with our resources. What we spend them on says what is most important to us. If I go out and buy a new video game, I am saying it is more important to me that I have this excess, totally unnecessary piece of entertainment, than it is for a child to not starve to death. I let them die. I could have helped them, but I chose not to, and they will die as a result. Again, no exaggeration.

But then I think of all the lives that depend on the video game industry. All the people employed manufacturing parts for the consoles, the delivery drivers, the custodians keeping the facilities clean. People just trying to survive. If we were to cease buying their products, so many would be left destitute. We already have job shortages as it is.

So then I get sad, and I think there has to be a better way. What if we have it all wrong? What if the very systems we operate under are untenable? Is there really a solution? Perhaps the world is broken beyond our ability to repair in this respect. I would like to think not, but what I would like is irrelevant.



Anyways, thanks for the great read. As you can see, it provoked some thought. So, woohoo! Success, right? :triumphant:


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## gokedik (Sep 20, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> Or watching one of those banal television shows. I don't get all of this "celebriarity" garbage either. Very nice piece Gokedik.


Thank you for your time and comment. In this  country you must really read between the lines with everything TV, newspapers and all that you read even advertisements. It's sick how "they" manipulate us from the cradle to the grave. "They" have subliminal communication down, it's our job to unravel their lies. And they are many...MK


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## gokedik (Sep 20, 2014)

Gyarachu said:


> I remember hearing a statistic that something like 30,000 people die of starvation a day. In the connected world we live in, it is quite literally within my power to save some of those lives. For the average Joe not on the hunger-fighting frontier, it is as easy as giving money to an organization (with of course ample research into which ones are reputable and effective). You and I can save people with our money. That is no exaggeration.
> 
> For this reason it always angers me when people (including myself) buy stupid things. We have a choice of what to do with our resources. What we spend them on says what is most important to us. If I go out and buy a new video game, I am saying it is more important to me that I have this excess, totally unnecessary piece of entertainment, than it is for a child to not starve to death. I let them die. I could have helped them, but I chose not to, and they will die as a result. Again, no exaggeration.
> 
> ...


 Thank you for your time and thoughtful response. In America we are so full of propaganda and lies about whom we are and whom "they" are. It's quite disgusting. The system we operate under is purely monetary. Capitalism is a heartless philosophy and that's really all that America has to offer. I don't rerally suggest a physical revision but an internal over-ride. Change your heart, the world will respond. Again, Thank you and provoking thought IS success. WooHoo!...MK


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## midnightpoet (Sep 20, 2014)

Buying things we don't need with money we don't have from people who don't care - it's the American way.


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## gokedik (Sep 20, 2014)

midnightpoet said:


> Buying things we don't need with money we don't have from people who don't care - it's the American way.


Thank you for your time and comment. I couldn't agree more. The American way is corruption as if we invented the word. But I could go on and on ad nausea about the American "government". We don't have a government, we have a business, that's why we are referred to as "consumers". "They" import and we buy things that could be made in America. But "they" chose to outsource and save the all important dollar. It makes me sick...MK


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## Terry D (Sep 20, 2014)

I fail to see what the hell any of this has to do with non-fiction writing. These forums are for writers, new and experienced, to get input about their writing, not for rantings from any part of the political continuum. I'm sure there are plenty of forums available for such discussions, but on this site when I open a non-fiction thread I expect to see discussion about the writing of the article, essay, or whatever, not a discussion of the subject of the OP. It is not appropriate.


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## Seedy M. (Sep 20, 2014)

Lately there has been much in the news and on TV (It's everywhere. You can't go into a restaurant or bar or many other places where there is no TV blaring) about the drug war from the states and how the states are as much as blackmailing other countries to force them to "cooperate" with the US policy - or else. We do ge the news in a more honest form than you. We can turn on to Al Gazira or CNN or CBS or BBC or any other news organization. They are not censored here.
We are much less influenced by them than most others. The canal keeps our economy among the strongest in the Americas. We can look at an issue from several viewpoints.
We are cognizant of the fact all of them slant a story toward their own philosophy, but we can look at several and choose the truth somewhere near the center of that circle.
Drugs are an escape. Drug production on the base end is survival in a hostile (money-based) world. It has been suggested since the sixties that spending the same money on helping the starving farmers in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia would have cut the supply to virtually zero years ago. Take away the need to escape in your society and the drugs would have no market.
This is too obvious to be seen through the propaganda. Nothing is going to change. It also establishes a police state mentality that has taken the freedom from the North American people. The (non) patriot(ic) act crap was the end of the "land of the free." The mentality has gone to such an extreme that there is a big fancy FBI/IRS building in Panamá City that couldn't possibly collect enough in "owed" taxes to pay for the building, much less relieve any debts of the US. It is simply and obviously meant to control and intimidate US citizens living here and to allow the US to observe evryone.
The FBI, since its inception, may not legally act outside the boundaries of the USA. Why are they even here?
Because a past president sold out to the USA. It is also obvious. Fortunately my best friends are Indios living on the comarca. They couldn't care less about what a bunch of gringos allow their government to do to them.
I hope that someday soon a statesman will come to the rescue. Alas! I don't feel any exist today. Contrary to popular thought, circumstances don't create statesmen. It merely brings them out.
Sadly, that well is dry.


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## Gyarachu (Sep 20, 2014)

Terry D said:


> I fail to see what the hell any of this has to do with non-fiction writing. These forums are for writers, new and experienced, to get input about their writing, not for rantings from any part of the political continuum. I'm sure there are plenty of forums available for such discussions, but on this site when I open a non-fiction thread I expect to see discussion about the writing of the article, essay, or whatever, not a discussion of the subject of the OP. It is not appropriate.



I agree, the thread has drifted from its purpose. Whoopsies. You could have been a little more kind about it, though.

So do _you_ have any input for gokedik? Or did _you_ also come here with the sole intention of criticizing others, rather than offering input (which is, of course, the purpose of this board).

At least some of us offered something about the piece itself.



Oh, also, a small typo in the OP. Was bugging me so I thought I'd mention it.



> it*​'s* not bad once you actually allow yourself to and give up these


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## gokedik (Sep 20, 2014)

*LOL*



Terry D said:


> I fail to see what the hell any of this has to do with non-fiction writing. These forums are for writers, new and experienced, to get input about their writing, not for rantings from any part of the political continuum. I'm sure there are plenty of forums available for such discussions, but on this site when I open a non-fiction thread I expect to see discussion about the writing of the article, essay, or whatever, not a discussion of the subject of the OP. It is not appropriate.


Well, kind sir, I hardly see this as a political piece, having written many of them. And a rant, having written many of those also, I'll grant you a maybe. Your idea of what non-fiction writing is kind of limited, only wanting to see "discussions about the writing of an article, essay or 'whatever'". Non-fiction is not instructional, but what is REAL period. And what does "hell" have to do with anything. I see you are well decorated but can't help but feel that you are defending your position. Thank you for your wasted time but not for your hateful critique, if you can call it that...MK


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## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 20, 2014)

I really didn't see it as a political piece per se either. I viewed it more as an indictment on the state of the media as a whole with the whole paparazzi business, etc. I think your piece was food for thought.


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## Gyarachu (Sep 20, 2014)

To clarify, what I believe Terry meant was that the non-fiction board is for critique of the piece itself (i.e. is it well constructed? Grammar/syntax errors? Is the voice effective? etc.), not a discussion of the veracity of the ideas within.

The OP is fine, it's the comments that are the problem.


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## Sam (Sep 20, 2014)

It's not the celebrities' fault that people buy the magazines. If they stopped buying them, the celebrities wouldn't lose their job. The paparazzi would. They might lose some fame, a few fans, maybe a couple thousand bucks here or there -- but are they really bothered? 

Don't hate the player; hate the game.


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## patskywriter (Sep 20, 2014)

You might want to step back and read your article dispassionately for typos. You have a few: single vs double quotation marks, missing quotation marks, "celebrity's" instead of "celebrities," and starting a sentence with "a celebrity" and then referring to "they" (in the same sentence). Just tidy it up a bit.

The piece does read like a rant, which I assume you meant it to be … ? I'd expect it to work nicely for those who are in agreement, but for people like me, who don't equate television/the media with trash, it reads as just another bitter diatribe. There's no balance, and thus it's easily dismissed with an eye-roll. I would think that's a bad sign for any writer who wants to be taken seriously.


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## gokedik (Sep 21, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> I really didn't see it as a political piece per se either. I viewed it more as an indictment on the state of the media as a whole with the whole paparazzi business, etc. I think your piece was food for thought.


Thank you for reading, I think that some people that are decorated think it's their job to police the website. Decorations are in the past, I write in the present. Your comments were well received. Thanks again...MK.
 again



Sam said:


> It's not the celebrities' fault that people buy the magazines. If they stopped buying them, the celebrities wouldn't lose their job. The paparazzi would. They might lose some fame, a few fans, maybe a couple thousand bucks here or there -- but are they really bothered?
> 
> Don't hate the player; hate the game.


You've seemed to have missed the message completely, I'm saying that people aren't LIVING their lives, they are living vicariously through "Celebrities". It's a sad, sad waste of life. And time, and air, and space on the freeway (Ha! Ha!). Thank you for reading and commenting. And one more thing, my writing is in print, not just on the internet, not to brag, I'm just saying.



patskywriter said:


> You might want to step back and read your article dispassionately for typos. You have a few: single vs double quotation marks, missing quotation marks, "celebrity's" instead of "celebrities," and starting a sentence with "a celebrity" and then referring to "they" (in the same sentence). Just tidy it up a bit.
> 
> The piece does read like a rant, which I assume you meant it to be … ? I'd expect it to work nicely for those who are in agreement, but for people like me, who don't equate television/the media with trash, it reads as just another bitter diatribe. There's no balance, and thus it's easily dismissed with an eye-roll. I would think that's a bad sign for any writer who wants to be taken seriously.


 I did not want this to be taken as a rant. It is NOT a rant. If you don't equate TV/media as trash then you are a good American. Congratulations. And a "bad sign for a writer that wants to be taken seriously". I would have to beg to differ. It was an opine about living a genuine life, I'm sorry you didn't get that. Maybe I was writing about you. Thanks for reading...MK



Gyarachu said:


> To clarify, what I believe Terry meant was that the non-fiction board is for critique of the piece itself (i.e. is it well constructed? Grammar/syntax errors? Is the voice effective? etc.), not a discussion of the veracity of the ideas within.
> 
> The OP is fine, it's the comments that are the problem.


I feel that people aren't getting what I'm saying. LIVE A GENUINE LIFE! Be genuine, not a product of corporate sponsorship. It makes me sick, the plastic lives that some people lead. And they are the majority, buying into propaganda written by some big logo company. It seems they want to read things with the same cadence and vocabulary as what has come before. Sorry, I'm a trailblazer not a cookie from a form handed down from years prior. Thank you for your encouraging comments. They are graciously received...MK


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## dale (Sep 23, 2014)

gokedik said:


> Sorry, I'm a trailblazer not a cookie from a form handed down from years prior.


i don't know about all that. to be honest, most of what i've read from you is basic left-wing anti-capitalist propaganda i've heard
hundreds of times before from hundreds of different people. i personally think the whole "celebrity" reality show soap opera 
tv nonsense is idiotic, also. but you do have a way of wording things that ends up sounding political propagandist. and it's
not exactly "trailblazing" when the way you word these ideas can be found on literally thousands of generic blogs across the map.


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## Ariel (Sep 23, 2014)

After reading this thread I had to take a few minutes because the remarks on both sides have ended up fairly inflammatory. 

I think that, as a writer, there are things to learn from all media.  My life includes watching TV and movies.  It includes listening to radio and reading books.  It also includes playing video games and writing.  I _am_ living my life and if it doesn't seem like the kind of life _you_ think I should live well, that's too damn bad for you.


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## E. Zamora (Sep 23, 2014)

dale said:


> not exactly "trailblazing" when the way you word these ideas can be found on literally thousands of generic blogs across the map.



Exactly. Along with banal screeds about social media, smart phones, consumerism, etc.; sometimes all of them at once. It's not that there aren't negatives associated with all of those things, I'm just tired of people ranting about them and acting like they're the first to do it. And if you say so, they always come back with, "You're just one of the sheep, the brainwashed," etc. like they've just proven something. It's really annoying.


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## dale (Sep 23, 2014)

E. Zamora said:


> Exactly. Along with banal screeds about social media, smart phones, consumerism, etc.; sometimes all of them at once. It's not that there aren't negatives associated with all of those things, I'm just tired of people ranting about them and acting like they're the first to do it. And if you say so, they always come back with, "You're just one of the sheep, the brainwashed," etc. like they've just proven something. It's really annoying.



lol. admittedly, i'm guilty of doing crap like that sometimes, especially after too many drinks. but i don't call myself a "trailblazer" either.
to be honest, it's hard to be a trailblazer in the internet age.


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## patskywriter (Sep 24, 2014)

In post #16 you say, “And a rant, having written many of those also, I'll grant you a maybe,” then in post # you say, “It is NOT a rant.” In that same post, you tell me, “Maybe I was writing about you.” You don’t know me, and you don’t know how I live my life. Celebrities, and the very notion of celebrity, have never been important to me. When I was working in downtown Chicago, my coworkers, hearing about a film being shot down the street, would rush out to see the stars and get their autographs. I’d smile and shake my head at their silly excitement, but I’d never admonish them for it. I didn’t know what their lives were outside of work and it just never occurred to me to judge them for wanting to gape at movie stars. If you asked me to name my favorite actors, I'd say they're all about the same. I'm not really into pop culture.

I have a suggestion for you, and you can take it or leave it. Your diatribes against something as innocuous and, in my opinion meaningless, as celebrity come across as impotent and weak. (I’m not saying *you* are, just your words.) I honestly don’t see how celebrities, paparazzi, etc can affect your quality of life. Why not turn it around and write about people who do matter to you? You might feel empowered instead of victimized. That’s what I do as publisher of a community paper. I’ve had press passes that could have gotten me backstage with national acts, into NBA finals, and onto movie sets, but I choose to cover Little League, local ethnic festivals, and the school board. I’m not avoiding celebrities, stars, whatever you might call them, because I hate them … I avoid them because they’re not my “beat.” And whenever I do happen to meet them—and sometimes the situation calls for it—I greet them cordially and treat them as I’d like to be treated. Life really doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Do what suits you, do it well, and let people live their lives as they see fit. Flailing your arms at the world over such silliness is a pitiful waste of time.


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