Thursday, April 15, 2010

Let Him Who Is Without Sin...

So all the hoopla around Sania/Shoaib marriage is abating. How can I tell? Far away from India, my daily dose of news comes from good old Rediff and TOI. Logon to any of these sites, and you'll find multiple links for this kind of news. Back home, all the controversy unfolding on the news channels must have been pretty entertaining to watch. Oh how I miss that! The excited high-pitched analysis, the silly re-enactments/ visualizations, the annoying voice-overs! Yellow journalism at its best!!

Except that why do we care so much about what goes on in the lives of celebrities? Marriage is such a private thing; why do we expect anyone to consult the whole nation before deciding on their choice of future mate. Questions about patriotism being raised, politicians spouting venom, fatwas being declared left-right and centre, effigies being burnt, I hate Sania messages floating around in cyberspace. That's what breaking news is made of these days! Ever wonder why Tiger Woods has to apologize to his fans for cheating on his wife?  Sure the guy cheated on his wife with who-knows-how-many women. Do we really expect celebrities to be perfect? Or are we happy when we can see the holes in the illusion of their perfect life?

We are living in the age of voyeurism. How else would you explain all the tabloids, reality shows, sting ops, gossip mags/shows? You say - "I don't watch/read any such thing". Oh, but the next time you click on someone's profile page on Facebook/Orkut, going through their profile page/wall/photos; be aware that the voyeur in you might be taking over. The line between being genuinely interested in someone's life and obsessive stalking is pretty blurry! You never know when you might cross over to the other side.

Is this a holier than thou post? Hell no, I need my dose of gossip. It doesn't matter if the gossip comes from celebrities or from people I know. But as long as my life doesn't revolve around just that, I see no harm in indulging myself once in a while. So, excuse me, I am heading over to rediff to do just that...

4 comments:

KParthasarathi said...

Just imagine visual and written media without all these titillating stuff, would you opt for a package of all channels with cable operator or buy a couple of dailies and a few magazines of yellowish hue? As they say,viewers/readers want them and and are given what they wish like film producers do.It is a time pass for the common folks but a real head ache for the affected celebrities.

Ellen said...

Business makes a living out of it. Lols! Yeah, we all go for a bit of titillating celebrity news sometimes. But so long as it does not become the focal point of our lives, it's okay I guess. The spice of life, so they say. :-)

KParthasarathi said...

What happened?Not writing for long.
Looking forward to your posts

Rambler said...

@KP
Hey, am not denying that I need my dose of gossip :-). But I try not to go overdo it!

Your comment managed to rouse me and write a new post :-).

@Ellen
Yup, spice of life it is! But its certainly very trashy. We get a tabloid everyday at home, and its just trash! But at least its free, I am not addicted to the extent that I would pay to read such trash!

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