# People being shoved down our throats... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539 "2011-03-13T14:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/61 "2011-03-14T04:24:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I think you’ve got that backwards. The problem is that there’s no requirement for TV news to NOT be bullshit. Not that there would be any practical way of enforcing such a requirement. But as long as the profit margins are highest when peddling titillation and terror, there’s GOING to be a race to the bottom (where the bullshit rolls to). > > As you seem to recognize, based on your parenthetical aside. I recognize all that. The problem, i guess, is that there are two countervailing priorities at work here. On the one hand, there’s the capitalist, market-based priorities of the media companies, which are profit-driven entities. On the other, there are ideals regarding news values and journalistic priorities and even journalistic ethics. These two sets of priorities come into conflict, and the first one seems to win most of the time One problem, i think, is that the news organizations try to convince us that they’re interested in the second set of priorities, even while making very clear by the product the put out that they’re only really interested in the first. News purveyors either pretend that a conflict between news values and profit doesn’t exist, or, in some cases, outright deny any conflict. Also, i’m not convinced by the argument, implicit in your post and often advanced by the news producers themselves, that they’re just “giving the people what they want.” There’s probably some truth to this, but i’m not completely convinced that dealing with some local stories that are actually relevant to the lives of their viewers would always mean a decline in viewership. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/62 "2011-03-14T06:02:10Z")
Dick Vitale. Fortunately he will soon disappear from the airwaves for another year, slithering under the slimy rock he calls home during the off-season, not to reappear until next March. A truly loathesome piece of dog throw-up, whose voice is comparable to steel nails dragged along the surface of a piece of corrugated aluminum siding. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/63 "2011-03-14T06:43:21Z")
The numbnuts on The Jersey Shore. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/64 "2011-03-14T06:47:09Z")
Oh, that’s a good one, **Wile E**. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/65 "2011-03-14T06:55:11Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > The numbnuts on The Jersey Shore. I have never been so proud of the Straight Dope as when I saw a thread about useless celebrities go 62 posts before anyone mentioned _The Jersey Shore_. I may weep. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/66 "2011-03-14T13:53:24Z")
Over the years I have endured a huge number of overhyped wonders taking up space in the public consciousness. Fortunately if you wait a year or two they usually go away again. Right now I’m waiting for Peaches Geldof to go away but the signs are good I won’t have to wait long. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/67 "2011-03-14T14:21:30Z")
Relatives or mates of celebrities is another category that could go away - Rumer Willis is in the checkout magazine rags simply because she has famous parents. I hate that. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/68 "2011-03-14T14:21:43Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Jennifer Anniston. I win. > > I don’t get it. I don’t get HER. What is so mesmerizing, so special? Here’s the thing about Jennifer Aniston: the media wholly created this concept of an _ongoing_ feud between her, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. For the last _six years_ they have consequently been forced to monitor Aniston completely out of proportion to her actual work output as an actress, to determine what _tone_ they’re meant to take with their coverage of Pitt & Jolie, who are everywhere, and actually have the A-list careers to justify some coverage. But because the Pitt-Jolie relationship began in one of the most obvious acts of adultery in recent showbiz history, the entertainment media seem to feel like they’re complicit in their assholery if they pump up Pitt & Jolie (even when he’s building houses in NOLA and they’re both getting Oscar nominations) without making sure that everything’s okay in JenniferLand too. So, as long as Brad & Angelina continue to have big careers and do the ton of charitable work they do (and continue to collect/birth children, which they probably aren’t done with), we’re going to continue to see disproportionate coverage of Aniston. And so long as Aniston isn’t actually doing meaningful work (and she hasn’t had a decent movie role since _Bruce Almighty_) that coverage will be all about Aniston’s personal life. Is she happy? Is she pregnant? Is she adopting? Is her old dog about to die? Tune in to tonight’s Insider/Entertainment Tonight/Extra/E! News Daily/Joy Behar Show/Piers Morgan to find out!!! > [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Wasn’t her father one of OJ Simpson’s lawyers? That’s where I first heard the name Kardashian. Yes, Robert Kardashian was one of OJ’s lawyers. He was also a quite prominent attorney, generally, in LA, before his representation of Simpson, and up until his death. Add to that, the Kardashian sisters’ stepfather is once-famed Olympian Bruce Jenner. Their stepsiblings (via Jenner) are also the stepchildren of famed music producer David Foster. The kids in this big blended family have been, for their entire lives, young Hollywood royalty, simply for being the children of wealth and privilege. They have grown up amongst celebrity and with the ability to do things most of us would only dream of, at ridiculously young ages. (Imagine being 22 years old, driving a top of the line Porsche, going to the most expensive sushi restaurant in town with 6 friends and dropping $3,000 on food and wine in one evening and not feeling a _bit_ of financial strain from it.) The same goes for Paris Hilton, who is wealthy beyond measure as a part of the Hilton clan, and her (ex?) best friend Nicole Richie, who’s Lionel Richie’s daughter but has no noteworthy talents of her own. (To her credit, she seems to have retreated from the party life to the mommy life these days.) The primary profession of all of these people _is_ socialite. They became famous for being seen, at the right times, in the right places, with all the right people. Someone _has_ to, right? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/69 "2011-03-14T14:38:59Z")
So it is, and so it ever was. [http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1492](http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1492) The difference being, back in olden days any mention of the doings of the rich and famous was found in a newsreel at the movies, or on the ‘society page’ of the newspaper. Now - they are everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/70 "2011-03-14T15:01:24Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > IOr anyone relating to the TV show “Glee.” I could live without Lea Whoever tarting it up on the magazine covers and I’m supposed to be captivated because of her character on Glee. Who, from what I remember of her in S1, ran around in 4" miniskirts anyway so I’m not exactly undressing the Amish here. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/71 "2011-03-14T15:02:38Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I think Aniston is hotter than Jolie so ehh. > > I dunno. I’m pretty plugged into pop culture. I follow celebs on twitter, I browse TMZ and watch MTV and VH1 and I can’t think of anyone I feel is crammed down my throat. There are people I dislike, like Daniel Tosh but I mean, he has a show on Comedy Central so if I’m watching Comedy Central, I do it with the mindset that I’m probably going to see a commercial for his show and if that’s going to bother me, I should do something else. And sometimes I do. I’m not all that plugged in. Except for the guilty pleasure of watching Red Carpet spectacles–& the various Fashion Police responses. I get my Aniston news from [Tom & Lorenzo](http://tomandlorenzo2.blogspot.com/2011/03/in-or-out-jennifer-in-valentino.html) (who I first met because of their _Mad Men_ love.) Occasionally I’ll catch _The Soup_–for presentation of silly stories in a manner befitting them. Otherwise, I get my news from BBCamerica & other sources; clicking on the remote removes me from any distasteful stories. And get most of my entertainment from books & the weirder side of Netflix… So my throat is pretty safe. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/72 "2011-03-14T15:08:08Z")
“not undressing the Amish” – Good one, Jophiel. I’ll have to remember that phrase ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/73 "2011-03-16T18:07:26Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > That said, Jennifer Anniston is by no means any Great Beauty, (attractive? certainly-stunning? not even close) but at least she looks human, which ol’ Angelina Jolie seems to be getting further away from day by day… Aniston is the Mary Ann to Jolie’s Ginger (and in the same way, I’ve always found Jennifer more appealing). The whole continuing appeal is that Jennifer Aniston was the sweet, ordinary girl who ended up married to, arguably, the _most desirable man in the world_. It was something straight out of a romance novel/fairy tale … until Prince Charming dumped her as soon as something better came along. That earned the sympathy (and tabloid-buying dollars) of every middle-aged housewife in America. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/74 "2011-03-16T18:28:39Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Well, that seems to be because, in your case, they’re NOT crammed down your throat. Rather, you seek them out and hoover them up with no cramming necessary. > > If you want to follow celebrity Twitter feeds and browse TMZ and watch MTV and VH1, that’s your prerogative. Similarly, if i don’t want to follow that stuff, i don’t have to. And yet you seem just as aware, if not more so than I am, of the lives and events of celebrities. So either you’re watching the wrong channels or I am. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/75 "2011-03-16T18:57:54Z")
With regards to the question, “how exactly are these people being shoved down or throats,” I think it’s the perception that conglomerates are picking specific people and generating publicity about them to support the business plan of the conglomerates in question. That the rest of the entertainment press and industry merely repeats this material is frustrating in a sense. If they really had artistic interests at heart, media sources would ignore Justin Bieber’s prepared talking points and report on some promising new talent. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/76 "2011-03-16T21:15:58Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > With regards to the question, “how exactly are these people being shoved down or throats,” I think it’s the perception that conglomerates are picking specific people and generating publicity about them to support the business plan of the conglomerates in question. That the rest of the entertainment press and industry merely repeats this material is frustrating in a sense. If they really had artistic interests at heart, media sources would ignore Justin Bieber’s prepared talking points and report on some promising new talent. The problem with that mindset is that Justin Bieber is “promising new talent.” He was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy and his CDs have actually been well reviewed in Rolling Stone, Billboard, Entertainment Weekly and other mainstream music outlets. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/77 "2011-03-17T18:37:17Z")
The private lives of celebraties bore me shitless. I couldn’t care less if they have domestics, addiction problems or get drunk. I don’t care if they cheat on each other, get divorced, get pregnant/have a baby. They can do what they like just so long as it doesn’t involve me, I just wish that newspapers, t.v. and magazines didn’t keep ramming their boring, predictable antics down my throat. I think that the totally worst example of this was Tiger Woods sex life. A media feeding frenzy for vicarious perverts. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/78 "2011-03-19T01:50:30Z")
My criteria for “celebrity being shoved down our throats” is when my father starts berating them in his weekly letter. Dad is an 86-year-old retired fundamentalist minister, living in a nursing home, who watches only the news, weather, and Jeopardy. Based on that, the current front runners are Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan. Dad love Sarah Palin and would vote for her for President. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/79 "2011-03-19T07:35:05Z")
I don’t get why Taylor Swift is such a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539/80 "2011-03-19T09:47:20Z")
> [@anya\_marie](#): > > I don’t get why Taylor Swift is such a big deal. Because in the post-Britney era, her faux-virgin (I say faux because she dated Jake Gyllenhaal and unlike a Jonas brother I don’t think he’s the chastity type) good girl shtick excites parents and her “I’m awesome, cute and get the boy, that other girl is an ugly whore” lyrics excite little girls and feed the long held cultural convention of pitting women against one another for the sake of men which excites record executives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-being-shoved-down-our-throats/574539.md?page=5)