Damnit Britney!

Britney Spears and her slightly younger copy Lindsay Lohan have completely destroyed entertainment. Their trials and tribulations have even encroached on the importance and point of the massive Hollywood writers strike that lasted nearly 4 months!

I will try to hold myself back here as much as possible but I find it completely infuriating hearing one more thing about either of these girls and the stupid, childish, and ignorant decisions they make. Don't get me wrong, I have no problems with empathy, even for celebrities; what I have a problem with is the media's obsession with exploiting their struggles and mistakes while all of the major issues facing our existence are basically ignored.

I find it so incredibly sad that all the mass media cares to report on are the failures of other people. Not that it is their [media's] fault, they are fueled by a society who thrives off of the blunders and misfortune of other people. I refuse to buy the tabloid magazines with gossip, both true and false about other people and their lives. I refuse to continue watching TV when they begin talking about Britney Spears' child custody battles. I refuse to read the internet blurbs when a celebrity is caught speeding and drinking in their Mercedes.

The only time I don't refuse to read up on a celebrities misfortune is when I'm looking for real news regarding the issues that concern me, my future and the future of those that I love. I read about the celebrities to remind myself how frustrating it is when the media, a source of vital information for my livelihood, becomes clouded with bullshit gossip and unfounded speculation.

Steven King named Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan the two "monsters that ate entertainment." And I completely agree. What is sad is that it is hardly their fault at all. Us non-celebrity types make the same mistakes, worse mistakes and no one but our immediate families and possibly a couple of government workers ever hear about it. It is the media's fault for following the trail of decay and the fault of our society for buying into the gossip and devastation that is a troubled young entertainers' life.

- Mitch G