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The Sheeple

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Post  Church1ll Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:56 pm

Maybe I'm just really slow and don't grasp concepts very well, but why on earth is our country and possibly other countries (I've never left the US) so obsessed with celebrities? And why, exactly, do people worship these other people who do nothing more than act or sing or play a sport(s)?

Perhaps it's the money, which also makes zero sense to me as well. Why, exactly, do actors/actresses, musicians, athletes, whatever make millions and millions of dollars while people who actually contribute to society like teachers make enough to lay somewhere between the poverty stricken and middle class? What do these people do that allows them to make astronomical amounts of cash?

This question actually reminds me of a South Park episode I saw awhile back. Before I go on, I don't worship the show, but I do think it's utterly hilarious at times and serves as an excellent political commentary. Anyway, the show was about Paris Hilton and basically just pointed out something we already know: Paris Hilton is a stupid, stuck-up, slutty snob who has more money than you. But at one point in the episode, all the girls are basically worshiping this person and seclude one of the girls because she refuses to be a part of the crowd...which essentially means she wasn't going to be a stupid, stuck-up, slutty snob like everyone else was becoming. At one point during the episode, she asked what Paris does. Everyone simply responds "well she's Paris Hilton, she can do whatever she wants" or something along those lines, which led to the girl asking yet again, "yea, but what does she do?" You might be wondering what my point is, and even if you aren't oh well because I'm going to say it anyway. The point is that people will blindly follow those who make life seem more fun, entertaining, easy, whatever. It doesn't matter that all you ever read in the papers is that <insert celebrity name here> did <insert wrongdoing here> because people look at it, laugh, and then go back to loving their favorite celebrities and spend much of their time trying to be like them. I'm not quite sure if that made any sense, so I'll try saying it like this: people are sheep and the one that tries acting like the dog is going to control the herd. The celebrity is the one acting like the dog while the people blindly follow because they have nothing better to do with their time.

This applies to media in general. I bet many of you don't know (or don't care) dodgeball is technically banned in all schools. The reason for this is simply because parents are idiots, which I'll get into on another topic board (that's the second time I've done that I just realized...). Schools followed this "rule" out of fear of getting sued for an atrocious amount of money. Then came along the movie Dodgeball. What an effect that movie had on P.E. in schools. Suddenly everyone wanted to play dodgeball, some schools even forming "leagues." And yet no one has said a word about it, save for a few unbearably overprotective parents. It all comes back to following the "dog."

I don't want to just use schools as an example of living off the media. The latest fashion trends (and this is coming from a guy who could honestly care less about what he wears) are all based off what the most popular celebrity currently has in his or her wardrobe, which is in turn based off some random person who has decided to place him- or herself on a pedestal and claim to be the smartest person in terms of fashion which is then again spread by the media. If you don't believe me go find someone who is wearing something that seems ridiculous and then ask who their favorite celebrity is. When you find out, use the internet and look up said celebrity and chances are he or she will have at some point worn a similar if not identical outfit within the past week. Obviously this isn't the case for everyone because there are some flat-out bizarre people, but you get the point hopefully.

Now, I would like to take the time here and mention that television either has gotten a lot stupider in the past decade, or I've just gotten a lot smarter and am just noticing the stupidity of television. Children's shows no longer have goofy, fun characters that at some point during the course of each episode share something that allows the child to grow and be an overall better person as he/she grows up. Many, if not all, of these shows aren't on the air anymore. If anyone remembers the show Doug, you'll know the perfect example of cartoon that teaches kids valuable life lessons in terms of growing up. You remember these shows because they have had some sort of impact on your life whether or not you realize it. Now it seems most kids shows try to be like the phenomenal and unbearably stupid Spongebob Squarepants. The character is essentially a moron who runs about causing havoc and failing at simple, useful tasks like driving yet exceeding at tasks that only failures could ever be seen doing like flipping burgers at the age of, I'm going to guess Spongebob is over 21, so I'll say 25 as that's a good post-college age. Flipping burgers is fine for, say, a teen or someone trying to make some quick easy cash in college but that's not something for an adult who has a reasonable amount of education. If I remember correctly that was the guy's main goal in life to become a fry cook. What ambition that guy has huh? Kids eat this shit up (no pun intended) and learn nothing from it. Now, the media effect has hit the kids and they all love and want to be like characters from these incredibly stupid shows. I'm not against letting kids have an imagination because that creates psychos like the Columbine duo. I'm saying to monitor what kids watch so they don't grow up not knowing what the hell anything is, if anyone understands that.

Now that we're done with kids I'll move back to teens because it's incredibly easy. Awhile back I was talking to a friend of mine and asked her why she spent so much time in the morning applying make-up. Now, this girl is drop-dead GORGEOUS without make-up on and with it on looks marginally better. She said it was because she "had to." I have absolutely no idea who is saying she "has to" wear make-up. No girl "has to" wear make-up, although some definitely look better with it on...and some should just never come out in public without wearing a bag surrounded with caution tape and a biohazard sticker...sorry went off-topic for a second. Make-up seems to be the kind of thing created for the sake of looking good for guys, and its been around for centuries if not since the beginning of humanity but one thing seems to bug me and that is when girls look at magazines and watch movies. Stop me if I sound sexist here (although I guess you can't seeing how this is writing and not a damn speech) but what is it with girls and trying to compete with people they don't even know? I use the word compete because that's exactly what it is, who is prettier than who and every girl wants to look better than top-tier celebrities. This actually applies to guys too as there's so many of them obsessed with lifting weights and playing sports (not that there's anything wrong with playing sports, mind you) you'd think half the country were trying out for the NFL, half being the 40-some percent that are guys and the remaining percent of the 50 being girls that look and act like guys. It's not bad to care about how you look but really why is everyone obsessed with how they look. All of it, from make-up to eating disorders to steroid abuse to obsessive lifting and exercise (the "I must work out constantly" kind of lifting and exercise) leads back to the media.

Alright, done my ranting...now for a conclusion.

Society is never going to change, because the only way people ever listen is if its someone they already worship rather than someone with common sense or a brain. This is why anti-drug ads don't work. Everyone knows drugs are bad but because the media portrays nearly all its characters as some sort of addict it suddenly becomes "ok." I'm going to suggest the impossible: considering nearly every celebrity lives off the public and the public lives off the celebrity, find a celebrity who really doesn't give a damn about what the public thinks of him- or herself and make a message. A real message, that for one moment not live trying to be a celebrity. If the sheeple fall for it, maybe society will wise up and realize who deserves the millions of money wasted on these people.

-Church1ll


Last edited by Church1ll on Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:59 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : finishing)
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Post  Gustavus_Adolfus Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:15 pm

I think this can all be traced back to one source, the educational and parenting system. Young kids are very easily influenced.

It is up to the parents to promote individuality as well as explain things. Also as a parent, you must be able to accept that your child cannot be great at everything (ie if they suck at dodge ball its ok ....but don't ruin the game for other kids).

In regards to the education system, I feel that schools should promote creative thinking and teach students real life skills. For example, would a class on Shakespeare be more important than a class on Accounting? For a good amount of Americans, high school is the highest level of education, and balancing a checkbook is a greater life skill than being able to quote Romeo and Juliet.

I think the job of having free thinking individuals is up to future generations, because its too late for us to change...but for our children there is always hope
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Post  PokerFace Tue Nov 04, 2008 11:46 am

Although I can't quite say where the origins of celebrity-worshipping come from, I can only put it forward as my point of view and what I do, think, and believe personally.

I actually met Paris Hilton last year. It was an interesting experience. I'm not particularly a fan of Paris Hilton, I just went to follow my roommate there because she was given bonus points for a class for venturing out into the city. As expected, she was somewhat ditzy, came out posing and acting all cutsey. Etc. There were people crying in line and standing in like with her book (she wrote a book? o_o) waiting for autographs and taking pictures. Hell, I even found myself caught up in it and took a few snapshots myself. I don't know where celebrity worship comes from, and it actaully even made me a little bit sad that they were all worshipping this heiress-socialite. What has she done? What important breakthroughs has she come up with? Oh. Right. The fad catchphrase: "THAT'S HOT."

Where makeup is concerned, being a girl (you wouldn't guess it by my username, would you?), I don't really wear makeup for the point of looking good. I mean, of course, that's an added benefit of wearing stuff on your face I guess because people are going to look at you and if you're going to put something on your face you might as well make it look nice. Maybe it is my artist background or what, but I just think it's fun to mix around the colors and stuff like that and just see what I can come up with. Somewhere down the line it turned more into self expression rather than trying to look good and the like. I never feel that I "have to" wear it.

But of course, that might just be me. To most I'm not really the "stereotypical" girl. Rolling Eyes


Last edited by PokerFace on Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

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Post  Church1ll Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:47 pm

Yeah, there are always exceptions to the rule thankfully.
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Post  ExoticWhiteMan Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:53 pm

Paris Hilton can write? Let alone a book? She definitely paid someone to do it for her (with money or something else).

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445968,00.html

Here's a little article, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it, since she's a moron.
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Post  PokerFace Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 pm

Well apparently she CAN write because her autograph is hanging in my room, as you probably know. I don't know what to make of that article either. You would think that after getting "played" the first couple of times you would learn your lesson and figure it out. Maybe not put out so early. But then again, I don't know any of the details surrounding her relationships aside from what has been going around in the media and her popular "dumb blonde" image. Who knows. Maybe there might be more to it.

Because my roommate has been converted into a somewhat Paris Hilton fan, we've watched a few episodes of her new reality show where she is on the search for her new bff. Somewhat humorous, but it's one of the many shows that make me question American society these days. Deserving of a disapproving headshake, in my opinion.

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Post  ExoticWhiteMan Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:10 pm

That might be funny to watch :-). Or, totally lame and unnecessary, like the real world and every other show on mtv.
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Post  Church1ll Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:13 am

Wow I just reread what I wrote when creating this topic and it sounds extremely similar to the "Why the World Sucks" things I used to write. Fun times.

Anyway after reading many of your comments I would like to make some more points.

I think this can all be traced back to one source, the educational and parenting system. Young kids are very easily influenced.

The educational system, unfortunately, doesn't give a damn about how anyone appears or acts so long as it remains within the confines of the individual school's standards. Also, schools tend to ignore anything and everything that takes place outside the educational system simply because they don't have the time to do bother with it. Unfortunately, schools will never bother spending most of the day teaching students real-life skills for the same reasons. Standardized testing has effectively killed any hope of schools offering more electives because a student passing a standardized test looks much better than a student that has learned real world skills. This is actually the major problem with the educational system, as more and more students enter college undecided because they have yet to actually do anything beyond the standard math-English-science-history courses offered. In a sense, schools, or rather the administration of schools, can be considered sheeple because they all follow the norm set by a higher power (aka the Department of Education). Standardized testing does nothing more than prove that you can take a test. It does not prove you can function in the real world. In terms of creative thinking, English classes tend to focus on that and even standardized tests have you write a couple essays in order to see how your mind works...and to see if you can actually write a structured essay properly.

Now as for parenting, I tend to rant a lot about how many of the parents of today are seriously overreacting to nearly everything in the world. Thankfully, there haven't been too many more instances of overreacting parents which is a very good sign. Maybe now parents can, as you say, go back to teaching their kids it is alright to be different because it makes you you. There will always be overprotective parents, unfortunately, but those children will one day grow up to not know how to function in the real world. This allows other children to see how to not raise their children when they have them, thus keeping the "shielded" children to a minimum...or so my theory suggests. Chances are I'm wrong as I am not a psychology major.

Where makeup is concerned, being a girl (you wouldn't guess it by my username, would you?), I don't really wear makeup for the point of looking good. I mean, of course, that's an added benefit of wearing stuff on your face I guess because people are going to look at you and if you're going to put something on your face you might as well make it look nice. Maybe it is my artist background or what, but I just think it's fun to mix around the colors and stuff like that and just see what I can come up with. Somewhere down the line it turned more into self expression rather than trying to look good and the like. I never feel that I "have to" wear it.

As I've mentioned in a comment before, it's always nice to have exceptions to the rule.
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Post  DarkLord Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:44 am

I'd have to say I pretty much agree with most of what has already been said. As far as the whole "keeping the 'shielded children' to a minimum" thing, I'm not really sure. As a few of you may know I have TONS of experience in dealing with a certain sherson (yes, I combined sheep and person and have lost the sheep part, i know), and from knowing this sherson I gather that this just keeps the number of "shielded children" to almost a constant. Shielded people will just teach their kids the same things they were taught, thus rendering their children shielded as well. I would use an example here to further demonstrate what I mean, but it would totally give away said sherson; however, if I talk to you over aim you have probably already heard my rants.

And I totally agree about the makeup, Mel! The whole makeup thing is really no big deal to normal people (as in you don’t need like 40 minutes in front of a mirror). If I remember to wear it, I remember…if not, oh well whatever. Personally, I couldn’t care less about what anyone else thinks about me. I do know plenty of people who are exactly the opposite though, and it’s kind of a shame that they spend so much time worrying about what other people think. They obviously lack the proper confidence to be themselves in public.

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Post  Church1ll Sat Nov 15, 2008 3:51 am

...Beth?
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Post  DarkLord Sat Nov 15, 2008 4:01 am

Haha, of course. =P

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