In an age obsessed with pop culture and instant gratification and with everyone attached to some social medium like the internet,Facebook,Twitter, and Youtube with instant access to information, hype is replacing substance.
How else can you explain the "fame" of someone like Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton both who rose to prominence after making a porno. Hype was the momentum that fed the machine that propelled them to stardom.
This brings me to Charlie Sheen. Now, I'm not putting him in the same league as those bimbos. I do think he's a decent actor and an entertaining guy who single handedly carried 2 1/2 men (The show. Hes'not that strong). But his recent drug use and antics have moved him into the American conscioussness.
The glutonous,American culture is waiting with wide eyes for the next train wreck to happen. We watch the tight rope act as it happens in real time wondering, hoping that he falls from sanity to psychosis. With each trembling step our mouths get wider and they salivate. We don't know why, but we keep watching.
This phenomena was made clear in a subtle but powerful way. As most of us know, Sheen has been acting nutty after snorting who knows what. He bad mouths his producer and gets fired. But the circus didn't end there. He hit the interview circuit and in the middle of his madness, he coined the most memorable line of 2011: "WINNING" He did a radio show and he bad mouthed his guests. The hype around his antics kept getting bigger until everyone was talking about him.
As a result of the hype, he decided to do a live show in Detroit. Tickets sold out in minutes. "WINNING".
THE EPIPHANY CONCERNING HYPE
They interviewed several of the people that waited in line for hours to get ticket to his live show. One middle aged man said, "WINNING" (not kidding) and added that he wanted to see the train wreck but, "I don't want to see him hurt himself." HUH?
Another middle aged woman said, "I'm not even a Charlie Sheen fan. I just want to be able to say that I saw Charlie Sheen. In a nutshell, that is the power of hype.
Seriously Sheen needs to hide out for a while. I'm tired of seeing something about him everywhere I go. I don't care about his train wreck. I'm more concerned about Japan right now.
ReplyDeletePS He looks like a troll doll in that picture.
ReplyDeleteI liked this post. I agree that "hype is replacing substance" and that the same "hype" is what as you say, "propelled" virtual nobodys to stardom. (Not referring to Charlie Sheen) But if we didn't have that, if the media didn't play on our reactions and talent was real and not "manufactured" -how interesting would the world be then? I wonder about that a lot.
ReplyDeleteThe media is using him to make money as he is slowly falling apart. They are the once who put him on these shows, they have no compassion for him or his family. There is mental illness in my family. It would kill me if someone took advantage of one of us if we were heading for a complete breakdown, as Charlie is. His family must be in so much pain.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole thing is hilarious. Charlie Sheen is not crazy. He knows EXACTLY what he's doing and he sees the media feeding off it and thinks "Fine, I'll milk this for some money" and you know what? He does win in the end. Do people really think he's batshit insane suddenly? I mean he's always been nutty but right now? He knows EXACTLY what he's doing. He knows people will pay to see a madman ranting and he's laughing all the way to the bank.
ReplyDeleteinteresting post
ReplyDeletep.s if you want to stay on ma "daily visits" list, come to my place and leave a comment.
I heard today about his show being sold out. And I thought, "He's putting on a show?" Ah well.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get the hype around Charlie Sheen... I couldn't care less if I tried.
ReplyDeletethis pic of him is jst sad. i also dnt get the sheen hype..he cld jump in front of a moving train for all i care,lol
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I think you hit the nail on the head. Hype is what fuels Hollywood now more so than talent. It's sad that it's come to this and will only get worse as a new generation of children get old enough to start tuning in.
ReplyDeleteSo true. It is pathetic what our culture values. It was bad enough when we idolized any movie star, model, or athlete, but we really go overboard for the train wrecks. Yesterday my kids showed me the most recent viral video by Rebecca Black. It is the most superficial bubble gum empty song and performance I've ever seen, but America is buying into it.
ReplyDelete