Perez Hilton

First off, I'd just like to put it out there that I am not ashamed to admit that I am indeed one of those every so often, if not daily, visitors of Perez Hilton’s celebrity blog; and I plan on devoting the entirety of this blog to his magnetism for passing constant judgment on stars and celebrities. It’s no little known fact that Perez receives millions of hits per day, reaching both sides of the spectrum from regular people like you and me to A and Z-list celebrities (and their managers/agents/publicists) like Winona Ryder to Kathy Griffin and even more recently, musician Keith Richards. Furthermore, this just goes to show the complete coverage Perez and his blog-staffers end up dedicating to hot celebrity gossip, regardless of whether or not the particular celebrities he’s blogging and getting catty about are even worth our time (recently, he had a posting on the whereabouts on former star of TV’s Blossom, Mayim Bialik). Lately I’ve been thinking about how much of an influence he truly is in this day and age of blogging. I know this sort of comment is widely established and discussed, yet I can’t help but be in continuous awe of the power he actually wields (or perhaps the amount of power I allow him to infiltrate my life and thoughts). Obviously, his progression and catapult into the spotlight has been both negative and positive, ranging from civil litigations over slander to getting the greenlight to his own TV show on VH1, but for the most part he maintains a steady presence in the media. Today while perusing his site I noticed several postings dedicated to ailing actor Patrick Swayze, who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. One of these postings in particular urges visitors of the site to follow the example of the blog-staffers who recently purchased Swayze’s Dirty Dancing 80’s hit, “She’s Like The Wind”, on iTunes as a tribute to Swayze by getting the single to #1 on the iTunes charts. Their goal as I understand is sort of a social experiment, apart from wanting to acknowledge Swayze’s lesser-known contributions to pop culture. Will it work? I asked myself. Will this seemingly forgotten, yet delicious, 80s track arise a phoenix, dust off the ash, and climb to #1 on the charts? Does Perez really have that much clout, or is he just as unsure of his own power as the rest of us and is testing the waters? Thinking back to the late-90s, I remember a time when comedian Tom Green (of MTV’s “The Tom Green Show” fame..and btw, does anyone remember Drew Barrymore being married to him?!) and TRL ruled the airwaves. On the show, Green debuted his music video for a song aptly titled, “Bum Bum Song.” He made it his personal goal to try and get his video to #1 with the likes of boybanders, ‘NSYNC, and rapper, Eminem, in all their fame and glory, and oddly enough, Green was actually successful in his quest, with the help of the ample viewers tuning into not only TRL, but also his own pre-Jackass inspired show. At that age, I was intrigued that someone of his standing and “importance” in society could get so much collective support from the youth, yet on the other hand, pondered the potential that he- or anyone of his popularity for that matter- had in making some sort of positive/contributory difference in the world. Fast forward to today and the youth is spending most, if not all, their time on the Internet instead of plopping down in front of the tube. From Tom Green to Perez Hilton, who else will receive the baton in this parade? Additionally, Perez continues to post about the state primaries and the looming presidential election and its no secret his affinity for presidential hopeful, Miss Clinton. Is having him as a widely public supporter a hit or a miss? And clearly, Perez doesn’t dictate or reflect gallup polls, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder the following: 1) how much influence I allow him/let him permeate my life and thoughts through his blog; 2) how much influence he thinks he has and; 3) how much influence Perez truly has.