I have quite a few vices that I'm willing to admit. Diet Coke addiction? Check. Starbucks Venti black iced teas and full-fat hot chocolates when it gets cold enough? You bet. An unnatural compulsion to check my e-mail every five minutes? Wait - let me see if there's anything new in my inbox before I respond to that one.
But there's always been one compulsion I've been hesitant to reveal. So now it's time for the truth: I absolutely love celebrity gossip blogs.
Until now, I've successfully kept this addiction a secret from friends, family members and even my boyfriend. But when it comes to gawker.com, perezhilton.com and pinkisthenewblog.com, I can spend hours scrolling through idle chatter about how hot David Beckham is, how Suri Cruise isn't real and how Britney needs to ditch K-Fed.
Now, I like to think of myself as an intelligent, introspective and well-read person. In addition to the gossip, I browse CNN and The New York Times' Web sites on a regular basis. And while I might spend a good quarter of my life online (more when I don't sleep), I watch no more than three hours of TV a week (even though I was raised on "Entertainment Tonight").
Mary-Lou Galician, a professor who specializes in the media's portrayal of sex, love and romance, says in this week's cover story (Page 8-9) that an obsession with celebrities' lives can quickly become unhealthy. She says that while us normal, boring people feel that we can identify with stars' glamorous lives and dramatic hookups and breakups, stars are in all actuality nothing like us.
I must agree with Galician that it's ridiculous for us to say we can relate to certain celebs. But at the same time, I'd be lying if I told you that I hadn't formed my own opinions about famous faces. For example, I'm fairly sure I once uttered these words: "Nick and Jessica were a great couple. They just got married too young."
It's been said many times before that celebrities are America's royal family. We know that everything they do is exaggerated and staged, but yet we can't stop watching. And really, as long as we watch from a distance and with a skeptical eye, I don't see any problem with the celebrity craze.
So if you hear the latest news about Jen and Vince, discover Britney's baby's name or find out that Patrick Dempsey is suddenly single, be sure to let me know. Just remember to send me the news via e-mail - which if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to check for the 100th time today.
