Scandal Celebrity Deaths and Rumors

People obsess over celebrities; especially when it looks like they’ve misbehaved or are going through a hard time.  We just can’t get enough of celebrity fashion, celebrity scandals, celebrity juicy gossip; and just about anything else that is remotely related to celebrity.  Some of the most successful Internet sites are celebrity blogs or photo galleries.  There is even a popular lottery type game called celebrity death pool, where you can buy a celebrity name, and when they die you win all the money in the pot.

There are a few obvious reasons for this sort of celebrity obsession, such as, envy, infatuation, jealousy; but there is also a parasitic kind of celebrity rumor hunter who thrives off the obsessions of the general public.  Sometimes this is done to generate easy views to an article, other times the intention is much more malicious; which I’m sure anyone who has ever downloaded a Trojan from one of these articles can attest to. 

Johnny Depp has died more times than Kenny from South Park.  Justin Bieber has been linked to a romance with Miley Cyrus, at the same time that he was allegedly seen kissing a guy.  A lot of these rumors may be fake, but not all.  The real celebrity stories are usually just as juicy though; and the public love nothing more.  It gives us the chance to feel all self righteous and judgemental.  Everyone likes to see those smug celebrities fall from their pedestal.

There is always the same old argument that celebrities wanted their fame, and by default, have no right to grumble; but I think that is ridiculous.  Most celebrities work very hard at what they do.  The hours are long, they hardly get to see their families, and they can’t even walk down the street like the rest of us.  Another argument is  that celebrities who court the media, can’t have it both ways whenever the publicity is bad.  Why?  Even if a famous celebrity has messed up in their own life, it doesn’t mean they deserve to be harassed or hounded by the paparazzi. 

At the end of the day, celebrities are only people with a talent; that does not automatically mean they have a higher moral code than the rest of us.   Or, indeed, that they do not suffer emotional distress when being attacked.