Confessions of a TV Junkie

I can admit that I'm not Britney Spear's biggest fan. I've seen her make mistakes and chronicled some of those mistakes in this blog. But I'm also more hesitant to admit that I watch what she does, who else is watching what she does, and what those other people think of what she does. And the VMAs was no different.

I didn't actually watch the awards show. I knew I wouldn't need to. Because the next morning when I woke up, the most important parts were being shown again and again on television stations, blogs, and youtube. And what were the most important parts? The parts that didn't belong. Specifically, only one part was being shown world-round again and again. That part? Britney's wastline.

The New York Post headline proclaims "Lard and Clear." Oh, there were plenty of other clever little sayings too. I bet you have one in your head right now. The entire show, it seems, was eclipsed by Britney's bulge in her belly and her somewhat off dance moves. I'm constantly amazed by our obssesion with Britney Spears, and the glee with we we push her off of her high horse and watch in amazement as the horse stomps her to death.

Let me add, here, that I am not above the fray. I saw this headline pasted on E! while I was at the gym on the treadmill. I watched as some twenty-odd college students stopped, mid-stride, to gape at the same video that they had already seen ten times before earlier in the day. I tried to figure out if she was fatter too.

But the question shouldn't be centered around Britney's center. As a society, why do we get our giggles from watching other people fail? I've got my own reasons for it. I think this has to do with our insanely competitive world, in which we covet what others have and hate we we've found ourselves stuck with. I do it too. But I don't know how to get past it. How can we stop salivating when we see someone who has it all go off the deep-end? I don't know if we can. Is it the media's fault? Is it our parent's fault? Is it just the way the world is now, with no one to blame (and, with nothing to blame, nothing to look to fixing)? Is it Britney's fault for getting up on stage in that tiny outfit when she knew that we'd be watching, and waiting, like wolves in the field? Can we stop the massacre on each other that we've been plotting all along? Do we even want to?

Who knows.

As an aside, Kanye West spoke out for Britney Spears, criticizing MTV's "explotation" of her at the VMAs. Then he went on to talk about how MTV robbed him of the center stage and made him play to a small room of fans instead of the mob out front. So Kanye hates MTV, loves Britney Spears, likes to rap about the way "he need Jesus," and hates to give up the spotlight. Oh Kanye, you must be my doppelganger in the hip-hop world.