Fascination with performance; indifference to celebrity.

[Trinie]

Right...so why bother saying anything about it at all?

I don't want to needlessly prolong this, so I'll offer you a final thought: it's impolite to talk about somebody as if he isn't there when he actually is. It isn't polite in traditional social gatherings, and it doesn't become any more polite on the Internet.

I only did because I felt it was rude to not respond. GEEZ Ok, I don't want to waste anymore of my time... ZAI JIAN!!!

[Ken Cheng]

I only did because I felt it was rude to not respond. GEEZ Ok, I don't want to waste anymore of my time... ZAI JIAN!!!

And once again, you fail to understand.

You hear everything, Trinie, but you don't listen. That's why what ends up in your mind is often very different from what the communicator was trying to convey. While I'm past doubting that you're sincere about the belief you claim in your signature, I've also come to the conclusion that you're not very good at living up to it. You believe in it, and you try at it, but you just aren't that good at it yet. Case in point: you complain that you don't understand, but instead of investing the effort necessary to understand, you leave in a huff when the answers don't come easily.

If it really disinterests you that much, you aren't obliged to comment.

[Trinie]

And once again, you fail to understand.

You hear everything, Trinie, but you don't listen. That's why what ends up in your mind is often very different from what the communicator was trying to convey. While I'm past doubting that you're sincere about the belief you claim in your signature, I've also come to the conclusion that you're not very good at living up to it. You believe in it, and you try at it, but you just aren't that good at it yet. Case in point: you complain that you don't understand, but instead of investing the effort necessary to understand, you leave in a huff when the answers don't come easily.

If it really disinterests you that much, you aren't obliged to comment.

Me not listen??? Boy, you really need to look at yourself first....I do believe in my signature, that is why I use it and I DO convey it well with MOST people....If not, I would NOT dare use that signature. Sadly, there are SOME people that I can't really convey it to because they lack common sense(not referring to you but just talking in general)... Oh well, can't win them all.....

[Dennis Chen]

Your post and your signature are out of balance.

[Ken Cheng]

Me not listen???

Yes, you do not...because listening involves not merely hearing every word the other party has to say, but taking yourself out of your own shoes for a while and trying to see the situation from the communicator's point of view. It's understandable that no one can completely succeed in this all the time, but I sometimes wonder if you even try. Your habit is to impose "Trinievision" on what others have to say. That's a very human thing to do, so I won't fault you too much for it, but I'd be more discreet on passing judgment on others than you've demonstrated in the past. Remember: you're passing judgment with only partial information, which again is a very human and forgivable thing to do, but my dispute with it is that you tend to do it with a blithe disregard for how others might feel about it.

[Ken Cheng]

Bottom line, Trinie, is this: you have the right to free speech and I'm not going to tell you how you should or shouldn't use it. But remember this: if you don't want to have people snapping back at you, you might want to run your message through your internal tact filter more often before putting it out in public. It'll save you a great amount of needless grief.

[xJadedx]

Ok people, take this to the PMs and go back to talking about celebrity fascinations.

[Dennis Chen]

I think it's more entertaining than the Gosselins.

[Ken Cheng]

I think it's more entertaining than the Gosselins.

I hope you don't actually watch their show, Dennis.

I'd honestly never heard of these people until earlier this year. Apparently, their show has been on television for YEARS, but when I learned of its existence, I asked myself, "People actually watch this?"

Not only do people apparently watch it, but somehow it became a big, big deal out of NOWHERE. Their television program has been on the air...what, four or five years now? Yet I never heard of these people until the media became obsessed with them early this year.

And I still wonder...why? Just what kind of artistic talent do these Gosselins have? Are they a textbook exhibit to prosecute the argument that we are in an age where one doesn't need any particular artistic talent to attain fame?

Actually, I know that we are, I just don't understand why.

[xJadedx]

Fame and talent aren't necessarily related anyway. Look at the "celebrity" news, which is all about current famous people. The majority of them are people who I don't even know how they got famous, i.e. Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian (I still can't figure out why SHE is famous just because her daddy was one of the O.J. lawyers), Jon and Kate (I still don't know what their show is about nor do I care).

[Ken Cheng]

Fame and talent aren't necessarily related anyway. Look at the "celebrity" news, which is all about current famous people. The majority of them are people who I don't even know how they got famous, i.e. Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian (I still can't figure out why SHE is famous just because her daddy was one of the O.J. lawyers), Jon and Kate (I still don't know what their show is about nor do I care).

This is where I think things have gotten crazy: if you look back at the entertainment culture of a few decades ago, the people who were the attention of the media spotlight had notable accomplishments in the arts. There might have been fascination with their personal lives, but only because they had first proven themselves as talented performers.

Now, however, the celebrity spotlight seems focused on people who do not necessarily have any performing talent, and I don't understand the fascination.

[expression]

Generally, I respect an artists work if it's the first thing about them I know. But if I knew something else about them first, that would colour my perspective of them, whether I like it or not.

Like if you told me the song I'm about to hear is sung by a racist who beats on asian women. Chances are I probably won't like the song and I can't help it because the fact sticks in my mind. It's irrational, but it's how I am.

Same for me. I'd like to say I can totally detach an artist from their work, but truth is I cannot. Like I can never watch a Roman Polanski movie again without churning the child rape in my mind.

Then of course, there's always the problem of how much truth goes into news, and what is Truth anyway... nonetheless my enjoyment of a song/movie gets easily affected by some words and gossip.

Heck, there was a time when I'd imagine scenes of C. botulinum eating into the flesh whenever I saw Nicole Kidman's face... well I guess she looked scarily fake even before I knew. So.

[dictionary]

I hope you don't actually watch their show, Dennis. I'd honestly never heard of these people until earlier this year. Apparently, their show has been on television for YEARS, but when I learned of its existence, I asked myself, "People actually watch this?"

I watched a few episodes and some of them are interesting. You should have seen Kate's belly after she gave birth to the sextuplet. Very scary. Heh. For the most part, I have no interest in the artists outside of their performance, at least not until the news of their death.

[Yeung Gor]

Fame and talent aren't necessarily related anyway. Look at the "celebrity" news, which is all about current famous people. The majority of them are people who I don't even know how they got famous, i.e. Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian (I still can't figure out why SHE is famous just because her daddy was one of the O.J. lawyers), Jon and Kate (I still don't know what their show is about nor do I care).

I remember when the country was fascinated with Octomom, that was a new low. Glad she didn't get her own reality show, I initially thought Jon and Kate plus eight was about Octomom. People have weird taste in entertainment these days.

[bliss]

Jean Baudrillard coined the term "second order simulacra" for it - when society becomes a mess of copies of copies without an original referrant.

Maybe it's just the commoditization of celebrity where you no longer need any particular skill or trait to be celebrated?

[Qin_Shu_Bao]

Something else actually came to mind when I read the first post by Ken Cheng. I think he's simply more introspective than most of the world's population. I don't know Ken Cheng personally, but from that one revelation alone I can tell he's probably very in-tune with his emotions, habits, etc - everything intra personal. Most likely engaged in his career. Whereas, people who are more inclined to obsess over celebrities are subconsciously seeking means to avoid their own life and relevant problems. How intense their avoidance is depends on the intensity of the devotion to the celebrity - needless to say.
I'm not saying this is always the case; there is a gray area but that's another argument.