I hate to defend these folks, Dean, but this is in some sense a consequence of the Web.
No, seriously.
If you look at the link (I choose not to follow), it's http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/.... So it's part of their Gossip section. Many newspapers -- especially tabloids, which I believe the Daily News is -- have always had their Gossip sections, with stories every bit as grimy as this one.
When the news came on folded dead trees, it was fairly easy to ignore the Gossip section, or whatever section didn't interest you. You could see the section headline and just skip over it. Or if the section were large enough to warrant its own pull-out, you could just pull it out and throw it away.
But with the Web, "sections" are a pretty fuzzy concept. Stories that were once safely isolated to special interest sections now "leak" into the general news. On the Web, the "front page" is the story everyone reads and links and forwards, not the story some editor decides to put first.
Now how this particulary story got read and linked and forwarded is beyond me. Aren't Ms. Hilton's 15 minutes of fame over yet?
I did a quick Google news search, and every damned story seemed to take the same angle. I'm not holding my breath, but it seems that a US$1B+ donation ought to be above the fold-headline of every newspaper tomorrow morning-- and the story ought to be focused on the charity and the giver.
*sigh *
The fact that this story will barely be a ripple, and focused on Paris is why I hate this media...
And to restate Andrew's point from a while back, not just celebrity stories, but as focused only on their position, not their person. Like 'Late Night Host' instead of Jay Leno.
(When Penn Jillette says it's not political, he's either conning the audience again, or else, if he's serious, it's one of the few times I've ever seen him be flat-out hands-down no-way wrong about something important -- "The Aristocrats" is one of the most important political jokes in history, and we forget its true philosophical meaning at our peril)
I should clarify something -- it's not the mere possession of the money that matters; you can be deliriously wealthy and still not be one of the Modern Aristocrats.
It's the combination of wealth, celebrity, and the unthinking belief that the normal rules don't simply apply to you. And while it doesn't help when other people repeatedly reinforce the latter belief, their guilt as accessories lifts none from your shoulders, either.
We could, Sean, but I'd rather not give him even that much acknowledgement, due to any spillover legitimacy it might provide ecofascism in general. Remember, Gandhi's iconic strategic process applies in both directions, so ignoring him is preferable to laughing at him.
If we've got to pick someone to name it after, let's make it someone appropriate, but as wholly and utterly both powerless and irrelevant as possible.
12.29.2007 1:45am
Commenting on Dean's World is a privilege, not a right. Dean is your host, you are his guest, and you should behave in that fashion. Dean is not your babysitter, nor is he your punching bag. Please remember this. In general, you are free to disagree with anyone on any subject you wish, but abusive behavior will not be tolerated.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.
No, seriously.
If you look at the link (I choose not to follow), it's http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/.... So it's part of their Gossip section. Many newspapers -- especially tabloids, which I believe the Daily News is -- have always had their Gossip sections, with stories every bit as grimy as this one.
When the news came on folded dead trees, it was fairly easy to ignore the Gossip section, or whatever section didn't interest you. You could see the section headline and just skip over it. Or if the section were large enough to warrant its own pull-out, you could just pull it out and throw it away.
But with the Web, "sections" are a pretty fuzzy concept. Stories that were once safely isolated to special interest sections now "leak" into the general news. On the Web, the "front page" is the story everyone reads and links and forwards, not the story some editor decides to put first.
Now how this particulary story got read and linked and forwarded is beyond me. Aren't Ms. Hilton's 15 minutes of fame over yet?
*sigh *
The fact that this story will barely be a ripple, and focused on Paris is why I hate this media...
It's symptomatic. The media covers all stories as if they were celebrity stories.
Is it wrong to hope she doesn't?
Yes. She's a pathetic skank -- the first person I have ever applied that term to, but she earned it -- but not harmful enough to wish her dead.
Destitute and having to work for a living, maybe, but not dead.
That's probably close to the same thing in her mind anyway...
Paris will have no trouble earning a living. She'll do it the same way she's spent the last several years: On her back.
She is, in fact, a skank, and not worthy of our concerns at this time.
You're one of the aristocrats.
(When Penn Jillette says it's not political, he's either conning the audience again, or else, if he's serious, it's one of the few times I've ever seen him be flat-out hands-down no-way wrong about something important -- "The Aristocrats" is one of the most important political jokes in history, and we forget its true philosophical meaning at our peril)
It's the combination of wealth, celebrity, and the unthinking belief that the normal rules don't simply apply to you. And while it doesn't help when other people repeatedly reinforce the latter belief, their guilt as accessories lifts none from your shoulders, either.
If we've got to pick someone to name it after, let's make it someone appropriate, but as wholly and utterly both powerless and irrelevant as possible.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.