Thoughts, notes, observations on the everyday nonsense of American Pop Culture from one of the most not-hip people on the face of the planet...

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Entertainment media created the monster that is JLo

Entertainment media is pretty ridiculous isn’t it? With god-awful publications out there such as In Touch, Us and the pretending-to-be-real-journalists People, it’s no wonder some people are famous. These magazines thrive on the day-to-day stalking of celebrities and we, the sheep, eat it up. They actually make us believe, somehow, that we commoners actually know these people, when we actually never will.

Be it an examination of what gifts the Cox-Arquette baby received and who attended the shower or a breakdown of who MIGHT be dating who now, celebrity media may be the most useless form of media, however, it’s power is exceedingly humbling.

If you want proof of the power of this low-life scum, look no further than Jennifer Lopez. JLo the Jho. This week alone, her not-yet-confirmed marriage to Marc Anthony graced the cover of these publications and, subsequently, some actually reputable ones. By now, there’s already the big pregnancy rumor (much like the token high school slut, the rumor come sup every few months).

The worst, however, is the stories that boggle my mind with their idiocy: Stories about why JLo gets so much press attention. I kid you not. They actually wrote stories about themselves and their stories.

This week alone, US Weekend, Us, People and the Associated Press all have published stories about Lopez’s “star power.” They talk about how she’s become “an A list star” and “the media can’t seem to get enough of her” and “wow, I can’t believe her life is always overexposed.” Do these publications realize they are the reason for all of this madness? Their overexposure of her every little move is the entire reason she’s so famous in the first place.

JLo should have these places on her agency payroll for keeping her career alive, because God knows her performances aren’t. She’s a mediocre singer and a middling actress whose best roles (in Selena and Out of Sight) are half a decade past. She’s proven that she can’t carry a major film (see Gigli), she hasn’t had an album in awhile now (well, one that got any real airplay, that’d be 2002’s This is Me…Then). and she’s more or less a pop culture joke to everyone that isn’t on Time Warner’s payroll. So how is she still constantly in the news? How is she considered an A-lister when other has-been acting/signing “sensations” such as Jennifer Love Hewitt are all set for the center square?

The answer is easily explored in these middling publications. In every story, they always mention how JLo is the “first Latina superstar.” You can read that as: A “superstar” created by the media to lure in Hispanic readers. Can’t say they don’t know how to market.

Yes, entertainment media is, in fact, the devil and is controlling what’s hot and what’s not every day. You, you poor unsuspecting bastard, you don’t even realize that some people are famous for the sake of being famous (also see Zsa Zsa Gabor and Paris Hilton) and instead of caring, you should be appalled at their utter lack of use in our society. But don’t take it from me: I’m with the media.



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