Celebrities in the News

Are celebrities sexuality or religion really news worthy?

Lately, I have been puzzled by the mainstream media's coverage of celebrities. Sure, famous people sell magazines and make for conversation, but is what most of them do really relevant? Currently Israel is attacking Lebanon because it is sick of Hezbollah attacking them, and if anyone has forgotten, we still have servicemen fighting in Iraq. Sure, reading about Lindsay Lohan's latest date, party or feud can be a mild distraction, but is anything a movie star does really newsworthy?

As I walked by a grocery checkout lane this past week I read the cover of People Magazine. It said "I'm Gay," under a picture of singer/actor Lance Bass. He has come out of the closet and is dating Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl. Unless I plan on dating Lance Bass, someone tell me why I should care?

Mel Gibson is this year's Russell Crowe when it comes to apparent bad public outbursts. Gibson was arrested for speeding in his 2006 Lexus. A breath test revealed that his blood alcohol level was well over the legal limit. But none of that is the real story. The true meat of the story is that Gibson supposedly made some anti-Semitic statements. More importantly still, is that every account of the story has to mention that Mel Gibson is a Roman Catholic. In a Yahoo News article titled, Mel Gibson "Out of Control," by Joal Ryan, it states that "Gibson, who helped build a Catholic church in Malibu..." In the Associated Press article by Sandy Cohen it states, "Gibson, a Roman Catholic,..." What does Gibson's religion have to do with his DUI? Is it less insultive to a Jew if a non-religious person says something anti-Semitic?

Can anyone find me some main stream media articles about less out spoken religious celebrities, who have been in car accidents, that state that what their religion is, even if they don't have one. When Halle Berry or Paula Abdul got into fender benders in the last couple of years their religion was never mentioned. Is Gibson's religious affiliation more important than everyone else's.

Last year, when the Democrat State Representative of Rhode Island, Patrick Kennedy, made headlines for crashing into a barrier after drinking in Washington DC, did any of the mainstream media reports mention his religion? Of course not. An actor gets drunk and mouth offs to police and the headlines have to talk about his religion and the fact that he made a movie, The Passion of The Christ, that the liberal media tried desperately to make anti-Semitic. A Liberal State Representative, who makes laws and decisions that affect the country, gets drunk, lies about it, later recants his story and the media never mentions his religion.

So apparently, a celebrity's sexual preference and religion is extremely relevant to the rest of the world. The media portrays Tom Cruise as a nut because of his devotion to scientology. George Michael couldn't give away a cd in The United States once he came out of the closet. When the media bored of reporting on Madonna's sex life they began writing about her involvement in Kaballah. Does the religious affiliation of an actor affect how you enjoy their movie? Is an Elton John song less worthy of radio play because he is gay? If you answer yes to either of those question then you should probably spend less time reading tabloids and more time doing some serious soul searching. Unless, of course, the tabloids have some great pics of Paris Hilton.