Is anyone else seriously disturbed by the type of media attention Miley Cyrus receives? Not all of the media attention, but the content of it? Just today, on perezhilton.com, she was the face to the headline "STD's Rife Among American U.S. Teenage Girls," in which Perez goes on to refer to her as a skank. Seriously, an adult man writing an internet blog about the sex life of a fifteen-year-old -- usually this is the stuff we hear about on "To Catch a Predator," but because she's a star, it's okay? I love my celebrity gossip, Us Weekly is my guilty pleasure, and I have very little sympathy for stars who whine about the paparazzi chasing them -- most of them have their managers notify the papparazzi as to where they'll be, just so they can stay photographed and relevant -- but when it comes to the way female child stars are being written about and perceived, it creeps me out. Back when Ryan Gosling and Britney Spears were on the Disney channel, they dressed like kids, acted like kids, and were mostly watched by kids. We never saw them wearing Valentino to the Oscars -- they got to be child stars, for child viewers. What message are we sending to the little girls who worship her as Hannah Montana, but then see her befriending train-wreck Lindsay Lohan, wearing couture, and sporting loads of make-up and dyed hair? What is the hurry to thrust this young girl into the world of adults? Let her get her driver's license first, maybe even reach the old age of eighteen before speculating on her sex life, Pervy Perez.
To start, I had a very difficult time taking this article seriously. Whether that is because my brain is fried due to a work overload or because I simply disagree, the verdict is still out. Coming from a small farm town in Southern Illinois with 500 people, you can trust that I know all about white trash, or at least the stereotypes attributed. In high school, we even had “drive your tractor to school” days, in which they allowed John Deere tractors to be parked on the practice football field. Our mascot was the Midget, and Confederate flags decorated bedrooms, car bumpers, and t-shirts. I had never associated Elvis with white trash before reading this article, and despite being to Graceland once as a child, I really only associated the place with being haunted.
Sweeney’s argument around White Trash to me sounds completely outlandish. It reminds me of a lecture Todd Boyd once gave when speaking about Eminem. He mentions that in some cases, rap and hip-hop are not race-defined, but rather class defined. He gives Eminem as an example because Eminem grew up in projects and rapped about poverty. It’s this that allows him to be respected in the industry more than other rappers who may have grown up more privileged. As for Elvis, since he grew up in a more impoverished area as well, and borrowed from black music and dance, he was widely accepted by whites and blacks alike.
I guess the closest thing we have to an Elvis could be Britney. She’s commonly refered to as white trash with her shoe-less gas station stops, cheeto addiction, and gum chewing. In addition, it looks like she’s got a tragic ending in store just as Elvis did. What does this say about people coming from the impoverished people in the south who essentially go from rags to riches? What does this say about our society in general after such cases of social mobility causing tragedy? I find it all very interesting, yet I still see this as an issue of class in America, not race. Thoughts?
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.
I know Prince Harry is not a film star, but he is a celebrity and I think what happened to him this week brings up issues that go all the way back to Elvis' military service. This week two magazines (one in Germany and one in Australia) leaked that Prince Harry has been fighting in the frontlines in Afganistan since late December. There was a strict agreement between the media and Harry's General (who let him fulfill his life's dream by fighting with his regiment) to keep this a secret for Harry's safety.
