No More Gossip

A/N: This is an essay I wrote for Fanstory which I thought some of you might find interesting. I am open to some reasonable discussion on the subject, as long as people can refrain from insults and name calling.

Americans are fascinated with gossip, and the focus of most of that gossip is celebrities. Countless glossy magazines packed with breathless scandal and salacious tales of who’s doing what to who sell millions, creating ‘celebrities’ whose careers are often built on gossip. Many of them have no apparent talent, unless you count a talent for getting into trouble. I think we need to stop feeding on celebrity gossip, for our own good, and for the good of the entertainment industry.

Many people who thrive on the stuff served up in the gossip rags feel that actors have no right to privacy because they’re in the public eye, but I disagree. Isn’t acting a career? Don’t they have the right to do their job and go home at the end of the day without worrying about who might be watching? What gives us, the viewing public, the right to pry into their private lives? Do we really need to know who our favorite actor is dating to appreciate his films? I don’t think so. Talent has nothing to do with an actor’s private life, and I think they have every right to step out of the limelight when they aren’t working.

Now, you might say that celebrities draw attention to their private lives, and I agree that is true in some cases. There are those who crave the limelight, and go out of their way to get into the gossip rags, but I think they are in the minority. The Paris Hiltons and Lindsey Lohans attract paparazzi like roaches drawn to sewage, but I think most actors just want to be left alone. They should have that choice. For that matter, the publicity seekers shouldn’t be encouraged either. There is nothing worse, in my opinion, than someone who acts out to get attention, and my reaction is to ignore them.

I love the entertainment industry, and I love reading about new movies and TV shows in the works, so I used to have a subscription to People magazine. Then one day while I was reading my latest issue, I had an epiphany. The magazine was 90% gossip! Every article was loaded with “a source close to the actor” and “friends of the actor tell us” phrases, and most were stories about the actors’ personal lives. Salted among those articles were short pieces about TV shows and movies. I was disgusted. I canceled my subscription and started looking for a magazine about the entertainment industry that focused on the business end of things. I found it in Entertainment Weekly.

There is a gold mine of information about the industry in Entertainment Weekly. Each issue is packed with articles about movies, TV shows, music and books, along with face-to-face interviews with the actors, directors, writers and recording artists, all tastefully told. Every issue includes a two page piece called “News & Notes” that reports, in brief detail, the noteworthy events in the personal lives of the celebrities, like engagements, splits, weddings, births and deaths. Do we need to know any more? I don’t think so.

Some might say actors can’t avoid publicity because of the public nature of their careers, but I disagree. I will use for an example my two favorite TV actors, Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, the stars of Fox’s Bones. Here are two gorgeous people, starring in a show in its fourth season that has grown in popularity. Their onscreen chemistry is phenomenal, so you would expect to see rumors of an illicit affair between the two. Instead, you will occasionally see a brief snippet about a man Emily is dating, and the odd blurb about David with his son, Jaden, or his wife, Jamie Bergen. The gossip rags leave them alone. I don’t know for certain why that is, but I have a theory.

Emily and David are professionals. Acting is their career, and they behave accordingly. Aside from publicity junkets and talk show appearances to promote their show, they are rarely seen. They don’t withhold personal information, but it is disclosed in the most basic terms. We the fans are told only as much as the actors want us to know, as is their right. I say we don’t need any more than that.

Stop buying the gossip rags and see what happens. Actors will spend more time working on their craft and less time avoiding paparazzi. No talent types will have to find some other way to get attention. Paparazzi will have to learn how to be serious journalists. And we will no longer be subjected to sordid tales of wasted celebrities bent on self-destruction. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Red,

Sweetie, first can I say, I'VE MISSED YOU!! Secondly, I have had this fight with the Hubby numerous times.....I could not agree with you more!! I truly believe that if some people want to be in the spotlight for the wrong reasons then they will be. Seriously, what is Paris Hilton famous for? She has no talent, but hey she doesn't wear underwear in public. Britney Spears? Really, she isn't that good of a singer, I believe Christina Aguilera has much more talent, but who is the one you read about all the time? And like you, I do agree that there is a way to live in Hollywood, or Idaho, or Oklahoma without having the paparazzi stalking you. Even the most influential people in Hollywood seem to be able to live a somewhat normal existence. You don't hear about Steven Spielberg going to the grocery store, or Tom Hanks having lunch....but hey John Mayer went to the bathroom at a gas station in Podunk......who the heck cares?

Many people who thrive on the stuff served up in the gossip rags feel that actors have no right to privacy because they’re in the public eye, but I disagree. Isn’t acting a career? Don’t they have the right to do their job and go home at the end of the day without worrying about who might be watching? What gives us, the viewing public, the right to pry into their private lives? Do we really need to know who our favorite actor is dating to appreciate his films? I don’t think so. Talent has nothing to do with an actor’s private life, and I think they have every right to step out of the limelight when they aren’t working.

This sums it up perfectly, if people take the "job" seriously and proffesionally enough then I don't think they would be stalked.

I do feel sorry for some celebrities who unfortunately for no other reason than who they are...are followed relentlessly. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, among others. Who cares how many kids Brad and Angelina decide to have or adopt? Who cares if Tom and Katie haven't gotten pregnant yet? These people are trying to have a life and these stalkarazzi are sitting a half a mile from their houses with telephoto lenses shooting their childrens birthday parties. Who cares what their children get for their third birthday....???

I honestly feel that if people would finally stop buying these trash magazines then it might finally put a stop to it. Don't get me wrong, I do love to hear what new projects some of my favorite actors are working on, but I really don't need to know what they had for lunch.

I'm with you sweetie, leave these people be......get your own lives.

Bella

Awww, thanks, Bella! You're so sweet. I've missed you, missed all of you guys, too! I still pop in sometimes, but I always seem to miss you.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply to this essay. I realize I'm not going to change the whole world with one little essay, but if I can make some people stop and think, I will be satisfied. Like you said, people need to get a life and quit hounding these poor people.

BTW, I love your sigs! How in the world do you get two? I'm doing good to get one to post.

Well Red, I'm not quite sure, Bizzle sent me some and apparently I could fit two in the space, so I did!! WOOHOO, Bizzle is the queen of Twilight stuff.

Bella

I went back a while in this forum to see what was back there. This is a great article, redrider! I'm not sure what "Fantasy" is so I'll have to look that up. Something that would publish an article like this is something I'd probably find interesting.

I hadn't really realized the People thing. I just never thought about it one way or the other. I don't read EW, but I glance through it whenever it's sitting on a lounge table or something. I might have to take a closer look.

Personally, I've sworn off candid celebrity photos - to try and do my part for a smidgeon of sanity in their private lives!

If anyone missed this article this the first time around, I highly recommend it.

Thanks again, redrider!

Fabulous essay, redrider. My feelings on the matter are very much the same but I think you've done a better job of articulating those feelings than I ever could.

It's a shame that DB is no longer as good an example, what with the papparazzi apparently following him around on his vacation. But he's definitely much luckier than say, Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart or Brad Pitt and Agelina. I definitely don't get the general obsession with the private lives of public figures. I mean, don't we all have lives? Aren't our lives just as important (and probably more so to us) than theirs? I just don't get it.

Also, a former LA resident, I detest the papparazzi. Can't stand them. Wish they would all go out of business. Sorry...but no, not really.

Stop buying the gossip rags and see what happens. Actors will spend more time working on their craft and less time avoiding paparazzi. No talent types will have to find some other way to get attention. Paparazzi will have to learn how to be serious journalists. And we will no longer be subjected to sordid tales of wasted celebrities bent on self-destruction. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Oh, god, please, yes! What a wonderful thing that would be.

Thanks for digging this one up, DB!