Spring Break
Can we finally let the Anna Nicole story die?
Wes Heinkel
Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: Opinion
It's finally over. Anna Nicole Smith overdosed on prescription drugs. The media can literally stop beating the dead horse.
A stripper with a prosthetic chest married J. Howard Marshall, an 89-year-old billionaire oil tycoon for his integrity and good looks - yeah, right. After his death, she fought all the way to the Supreme Court to win his fortune.
Smith allegedly took Demerol and Methadone when her baby was eight months along in her womb, constantly juggled multiple men and was cursed by a naked ambition for fame plastered on supposedly respectable news outlets; CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS and Larry King made her wretched life undeservingly newsworthy.
What is the fascination with a person who is famous for being famous? It appears that our society, at an increasing rate, feeds on money, style, decadence and tragedy over substance, class, integrity and importance. Our society resembles a parasite in sucking up a story like Smith's. Unfortunately, we are worse than your average parasite because we don't need stories like these to survive and thrive as a tick or leech does. The reasons so many crave these stories remain unidentifiable; perhaps a demented mindset, a thirst for drama or bad taste - whatever it may be, it should not be our ultimate focus.
To be fair, it's not all our fault either. The media stories about lives like Smith's spiraling out of control rain down like manna from heaven, only we are not starving in the desert and we are surely not the Israelites. Our survival does not depend on these stories. Besides, stories like these are the reason for those tawdry celebrity tabloids you see next to the gum rack at convenience stores.
The news of her death was perhaps justifiable, but the non-stop coverage, up-to-the-minute special reports and shameless broadcasts that ensued were utterly sickening.
Honestly, when I saw photographs of the contents of her refrigerator the day she died, I felt sick to my stomach. Really, who cares? I even had one of those occurrences when you throw up in your mouth and swallow it - disgusting, I know. And it wasn't because of the Slim-Fast or yogurt scattered around her fridge, it was because of the realization that this is the state of our society.
A stripper with a prosthetic chest married J. Howard Marshall, an 89-year-old billionaire oil tycoon for his integrity and good looks - yeah, right. After his death, she fought all the way to the Supreme Court to win his fortune.
Smith allegedly took Demerol and Methadone when her baby was eight months along in her womb, constantly juggled multiple men and was cursed by a naked ambition for fame plastered on supposedly respectable news outlets; CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS and Larry King made her wretched life undeservingly newsworthy.
What is the fascination with a person who is famous for being famous? It appears that our society, at an increasing rate, feeds on money, style, decadence and tragedy over substance, class, integrity and importance. Our society resembles a parasite in sucking up a story like Smith's. Unfortunately, we are worse than your average parasite because we don't need stories like these to survive and thrive as a tick or leech does. The reasons so many crave these stories remain unidentifiable; perhaps a demented mindset, a thirst for drama or bad taste - whatever it may be, it should not be our ultimate focus.
To be fair, it's not all our fault either. The media stories about lives like Smith's spiraling out of control rain down like manna from heaven, only we are not starving in the desert and we are surely not the Israelites. Our survival does not depend on these stories. Besides, stories like these are the reason for those tawdry celebrity tabloids you see next to the gum rack at convenience stores.
The news of her death was perhaps justifiable, but the non-stop coverage, up-to-the-minute special reports and shameless broadcasts that ensued were utterly sickening.
Honestly, when I saw photographs of the contents of her refrigerator the day she died, I felt sick to my stomach. Really, who cares? I even had one of those occurrences when you throw up in your mouth and swallow it - disgusting, I know. And it wasn't because of the Slim-Fast or yogurt scattered around her fridge, it was because of the realization that this is the state of our society.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Melissa
posted 3/30/07 @ 10:42 AM CST
I'm writing to you about the methadone epidemic taking place in the United States .
I am writing on behalf of HARMD (Helping America Reduce Methadone Deaths). (Continued…)
Jennifer
posted 3/31/07 @ 11:49 AM CST
And yet, YOU, continue in the media response to her death. As a journalist, IT IS YOUR JOB. Don't critized or judge the society that you are feeding with your opinions on how a woman lived her life. (Continued…)
mega
posted 4/01/07 @ 3:58 PM CST
Not everyone who tuned in following Daniel's death was interested in Anna Nicole, but rather in the tragic life and death of the boy who was raised by nanny's since he was eight. (Continued…)
Methadone
posted 7/23/08 @ 11:48 AM CST
I think it's time to let it all go, I just hope that right people learned the right thing from it.
Post a Comment