All People Need People, not Just the Lucky Ones

I have been told that a lady’s name appears in the news three times: when she is born, when she is married, and when she dies. I would add, in these enlightened times – when she has made an accomplishment.

Michaele (who can’t spell her own name) and her husband Tareq, the Salahis, were the couple who crashed the White House state dinner in order to become reality TV stars. The newspaper said she was a “glamorous blonde.” I see a very ordinary looking woman, who, even after spending seven hours in a posh Georgetown salon, still looks ordinary – not even pretty.

Am I envious? Hardly. I’m appalled. These two are just like the trashy people on Jerry Springer. And Larry King, the trash-chasing guy with the suspenders, will interview them.

When is America going to tire of people like this? Why do we gobble this stuff up?

I believe these reality dramas have replaced gossip. In order to gossip, you have to know someone to talk about and have someone to talk to. Reality TV replaces real people talking about mutual acquaintances. Gossip is not the right word here: it has negative connotations. I’m talking about conversations people have about each other; human beings are endlessly interesting.

The late Jack Finney, the author of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, wrote a story “Of Missing Persons.” In this fantasy, the mission people go to a beautiful earth-like planet where people gather for coffee every morning before work and make their own entertainment.

These people did not need reality TV. They had reality. It’s much better.