Western Courier

Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: Opinion

Whether we created the mass media that prioritizes debauchery over worth or whether it created us is irrelevant. We are becoming one and the same. We are its host and it is ours, and we constantly feed off one another. Anna Nicole Smith is a reflection of that relationship between parasite and host, and, more importantly, a screwed-up society with progressively more misguided values.

However, there are many things we as a society can take from her death that the media would never dare tell. First, money will not always bring happiness; Anna Nicole is the poster child for this cliché. It's not about the next quick fix. She chased the money trail her whole life, while everything else fell apart or slowly withered away. Smith married her oil tycoon for his money - an inference I know - but let's be realistic. The point is you can watch her life come full-circle. She fought shamelessly for his money after his death.

Second, the relationships we cultivate in life should be meaningful ones based on character, integrity and common bonds with our fellow men. Where were Smith's friends, family or numerous boyfriends throughout her drug addictions and complete loss of self-respect? There was no one around to pull her up by the bootstraps - which is what true friends do.

Third, we have an example of a person with the finest clothes, the newest cars, all the material things our society craves - including fame and fortune - who more than likely never found any real happiness. All those things, well-said by Kansas, are "dust in the wind."

People like Smith should not be put on a pedestal or considered newsworthy by society or the media. If anything, she should be remembered as the prototype of how not to pursue goals and live a fulfilling life.

< prev Page 2 of 2

Article Tools