How often do our news headlines contain information about the personal lives of famous people? I’m not talking about humanitarian work, industry specific accomplishments, or deaths. Yes, I will admit that I skim the covers of an US Weekly or People magazine while I’m waiting to checkout at the grocery store; it’s kind of hard not to with the full color pictures and large headlines basically screaming: IF YOU HAVEN’T GOTTEN YOUR DAILY DOSE OF DRAMA FOR THE DAY, KEEP READING.

There is so much celebrity coverage in the media about whose pregnant, getting married, getting divorced, cheating, beating, out of rehab, returning to rehab, that it’s more commonplace than the news regarding what they actually get paid to do. It’s like Ms. Benita, the hilarious neighborhood gossip from the show In Living Color, took over all of the major media outlets focused on celebrity news. Forget the secret lives of the common folk around the neighborhood; she hit the big time airing the dirty laundry of the rich – and she’s making millions, too!

On the other hand, so much of the allure of celebrities is that they have the money, great looks, expensive toys, designer clothes, and the fame that makes their lives so much more fun than ours. Society perpetuates this fascination with television shows that highlight the perks that come with fame like MTV Cribs, The Fabulous Life series, and so on. Then, when we get tired of all that they have, we want to hear about what isn’t going so well and there are shows for that too, such as Celebrity Rehab and Celebrity Boot Camp. There are even shows that focus on neither the good nor bad, but rather the mundane activities of celebrities such as eating lunch, shopping, checking in at the airport, or walking their dogs, as seen on TMZ.

Oh, but wait, it shouldn’t just be the celebrities that get to be on TV all the time. There are Americans who are beautiful and just looking for true love (The Bachelor and The Bachelorette), or those who are wealthy and beautiful but just don’t have the fame (Real Housewives), or those who are hot, like to drink, and act stupid (Real World and Road Rules), or those who will do degrading and humiliating things to beat the competition for a chance to date a “celebrity” (Flavor of Love and For the Love of Ray J). Oh, I almost forgot, if you have a lot of kids, you’re interesting enough to get a show too, just like Jon and Kate with their eight and the Duggar Family with nineteen.

I believe that as a society, America is obsessed with celebrities and the whole idea of fame. It’s a very lucrative business to produce pictures, gossip, and other stories of celebrities to the public and the public seems to want more and more. Some people want so much to have their own moment of glory in the spotlight that they end up getting attention that isn’t so desirable after all. I will only mention two incidents: The Balloon Boy hoax and the White House Party Crashers. Maybe the fates of the couples involved in these two incidences are what they mean when they say, “There’s a high price for fame”.