Celebreality? Why?

Lately, I've been giving some thought to why our culture is so obsessed with celebrities. And not even for-real legitimate celebrities, reality television has created a sort of quasi-celebrity, characters that people become fascinated with, but who aren't special in any way other than that they sent an audition tape to the casting director of a reality television program.

Last summer, I was visiting a friend in Buffalo and we couldn't get in to her favorite bar because it had reached capacity. We asked the bouncer why so many people were there and he told us that Landon from "The Real World" was in the bar. You all remember Landon, right? He was a pretty regular guy, kinda short, muscular, not much of a personality, got a lot of camera time for basically acting like a huge douchebag. He's touring the country, collecting fees from bars that in return draw extra patrons who want to get drunk with Landon and see if he's really as much of a douche in person as he is on television. There was a flyer outside of the bar; Book Landon from MTV's "The Real World" for your next event, it read. I was shocked, but I'm not really sure why.

People are obsessed with these reality tv stars. I'm not trying to contest the inherent idiocy of our society and claim that I'm above it; I too am privy to many of these shows. In particular, I can't miss an episode of VH1's "I Love NY" or "The White Rapper Show;" I'm not sure what attracts me to these shows. I can't really even decide whether the show's characters are really bad actors, or if there are actually people that crazy in the world. Whatever the answer, I find the shows entertaining.

What got me thinking about this was something that happened a few days ago. My roommate Ray and I went snowboarding with our friend Mallory, and she told us how one of the guys living in her house knows one of the contestants recently eliminated from "The White Rapper Show," Sully. Ray and I both were instantly fascinated with the idea of possibly speaking to Sully. And then, it hit me; Sully's not exceptional in any way. He's just some random guy from Boston that happened to land on a television show. He's kind of an alcoholic and has a very moderate musical talent. Why should I be excited to talk to him? If anything, he should be excited to talk to me.

I can't really resolve this; maybe I'm mad at the culture that has formed me... or maybe I'm just disappointed because I'd rather meet John Brown than Sully (he seems much more interesting). Anyways, let me know what you think.

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