Taking Celebrity A Little Too Seriously

Monday, September 12, 2005

Celebrity obsession is turning nasty, academics warn

On Monday, leading academics are holding a conference to discuss society's obsession with celebrities. Now that's going a little too far. It's not rocket science to figure out why people are interested in the lives of celebrities: either because we're want to be like them, because we enjoy tearing them down, or just because it's a pleasant diversion from the mundane aspects of our own lives. Whatever.

To have a bunch of "academics" get together to try to figure it out borders on the outrageous. I hardly got through the article without snorting soda out of my nose when one, evidently with a straight face, said David Beckham could be seen as a "post-modern religious icon." What? He's a very attractive and very talented professional athlete...period.

This is my problem with much of academia: it's full of self-important people who have no clue how ridiculous all their pretensions are. So much of what passes as academic research is just an excuse to justify getting a salary to sit around and look down your nose at everyone else. Anyone who attends this conference should be summarily fired and forced to find work in the real world....