Sexuality

Upon scoping out People Magazine’s online website, I noticed that one of the top stories was entitled “Ricky Martin Reveals He’s Gay”… big shocker there! I find it funny that one of the most popular stories deals with a former celebrities’ sexuality – as if this is supposed to make us think that a man liking another man or a woman liking another woman changes who they are and what they stand for. Our culture is so heteronormative that anything outside the prescribed cultural norms of heterosexual relationships is considered deviant and wrong. What a crock! I mean, I am all for free speech and free thought and individuals believing whatever they want to believe, but come on people, it’s time to start opening your eyes to different things. Being a lesbian or being gay does not make anyone better or, more importantly, worse. It just means that they are just that – gay. I think it’s funny how people make such a big deal about sexuality. I mean, you wouldn’t open up a Hollywood tabloid expecting to see a headline entitled, “Celebrity Actor Reveals He’s Heterosexual!” So, why does a person being gay/lesbian carry so much weight and significance? Does it really matter?

L ? O ? V ? E ?

Love only seems to last so long, at least in Hollywood. From Reese to Ryan, Brad and Jennifer, Tiger and Elin, now Jesse and Sandra; all couples undoubtedly have something in common: infidelity. Such dynamic duos were once idolized for their healthy, successful relationships and now are only spotlighted and infamous for succumbing to the spell that Hollywood stardom seems to cast upon the majority of celebrity couples. It’s sad, really. All relationships that seem to have love figured out in the land of fame and fortune eventually fall from the weight and pressure of their admired partnership. Even when they shatter to pieces, the former couples’ romances are all the rage in every major tabloid. It makes you think: are we supposed to not only idolize the scarce successful Hollywood relationships that seem to dwindle with every passing year, but also the relationships that succumb to infidelity and sex scandals? What is this teaching the children of the future? Are we dooming future love with the failures of Hollywood romance? Are we portraying to the world that true love no longer exists? I don’t know, but such questions are fair to ask and definitely ideas to ponder.

Only in Hollywood...

Only in Hollywood can someone remain the highest paid sitcom star, receiving nearly $1 million dollars an episode, while concurrently awaiting a fate in due of domestic violence charges. If you don’t recognize this scenario, I’m speaking about no other than Charlie Sheen, head actor of the television series Two and a Half Men. As one of Hollywood’s most notorious bad boys, Sheen has a history of criminal behavior, including anger problems that dates back to before he and his current wife and supposed domestic violence victim, Brooke Mueller, were together. Although Sheen took a leave-of-absence from the show for one of his court hearings, he is headed back to the set to finish shooting the remainder of the season for the series and doesn’t seem to be too concerned that his wife has accused him of holding a knife to her throat, choking her, and threatening to take her life. Even one online tabloid mentioned that if convicted, Sheen will face minimal jail time due to lack of physical harm against his wife. In plain terms, because he didn’t actually follow through with physically hurting his wife, all is good in the world of Charlie Sheen.

Personally, I think this is ridiculous. The man allegedly assaulted his wife with a deadly weapon and threatened to kill her and yet is allowed to go back to work as if nothing happened? Furthermore, IF convicted (and that seems to be a big “if”), he’ll face hardly any jail time, even though he has a history of criminal behavior? Where’s the justice in this situation? Our nation seems to have a decent working legal system – that is until you reach the level of stardom where certain individuals can simply buy their freedom and forego prison. Something just doesn’t seem right here.

Tragedy in Hollywood

Like every other Monday night, I sat down in front of my laptop and caught up on my weekend gossip via the online tabloids of Us magazine and People magazine. In doing so, I noticed that the top stories on both websites were not pertaining to this weekend’s recent Oscars ceremony, as expected. Rather, the headlining story appearing on both sites dealt with Marie Osmond’s late son, Michael Bryan who recently died at the age of 18. The young adult not only died, but took his own life nearly a week earlier by jumping off of the eighth floor of his apartment complex. Thus, my question to you is why? Not why did the young man follow through with what he did, but why was this account the most read about story on both websites?

Prior to this incident, no one really knew who this young man was (I didn’t), nor cared to know. All of a sudden, the entire nation wanted to read and learn more about this troubled young man’s seemingly dejected life. But, the question is, why now? Why is it that when someone dies, everyone becomes intently fascinated and weirdly captivated on said person’s downfall and demise? Is it because we feel sympathy and empathy towards the person and/or his/her family? Or is it because, in some twisted, Freudian-like philosophy, we – as human beings – are oddly intrigued by death? My answer to this question would be, that as human beings, we try to make sense of that of which is nonsensical. We try to rationally explain that of which is not rational. In this case, I believe that people became intrigued in not only the direct tragedy of the young man’s death, but the “behind-the-scenes” story of what lead to such an irrational and illogical decision. Such a topic, however, is open to interpretation.