Wheel of Morality, Turn-Turn-Turn: Who's to Blame When a Star Goes Out?

I have this habit - I won't call it a good or a bad one. As habits go, I would say it's in the neutral zone. When I'm in the checkout line at the store, I read all the magazine covers. If something really catches my eye, I might even flip through to see glance at the juicy gossip. 

This only happens if someone I really like is on the cover (Christian Slater, usually - I love him,). I never buy the things. I bought a Star once in the sixth grade (because Christian Slater was on the cover). It had Princess Diana on it as well. The next week, the paparazzi killed her. The guilt. Oh, the guilt. Never again. The only rag I would buy after that was Weekly World News because everyone knew it was basically a joke - and no one was going around harassing Bat Boy.

My habit of reading all the magazine covers has served to keep me well for informed nigh on many a year. I never watched Dawson's Creek, or any other teen soap opera.. We only got 5 channels when I lived at home: NBC, ABC, PBS, and 2 CBS(es?). The shows everyone else was watching came on FOX or the WB, so I was out of luck. We had satellite too, but was way more interested in watching MTV and VH1. 

Water cooler talk is important though, even in high school. I kept up with characters, story lines, and plot twists on my weekly trips to the grocery store. This practice has continued into adulthood. 

“Did you see American Idol last week?” I have never seen an episode in my life, but thanks to the supermarket checkout line, I can fake my way through that conversation just fine. It’s easier than having to explain that I don’t care about the things most people care about. Meanwhile, since I’m just looking, I don't have to feel bad about giving those creeps money and they keep me informed about the things that fuel small-talk.

Yesterday, I was standing in line, learning all about Jennifer Anistion's Twins, Johnny Depp's failing marriage, and a myriad of Kardashian news (really, who cares about these people?) when my eyes landed on the cover of The National Enquirer - The One Rag to Rule Them All.

You would think they would have the good sense to pull it.

I wonder if they are feeling guilty today? At the very least, it seems in poor taste, now that she's dead. I imagine that on Monday morning, they were all sitting in their offices and cubicles feeling pretty smug. “We called that one, didn’t we boys?” they say as they clink their mugs of coffee together. I hope that’s not what happened, but it probably did.

There are always the questions after these things happen, "Why did no one help her?" Maybe they tried. There's no way to know. No matter what the problem, a person has to truly want to get better before any kind of intervention is going to work. People want to blame the tabloids for driving stars to the edge of sanity and maybe they’re right. I haven't had the displeasure of being a celebrity. I think it's sad that fame disagrees with so many talented people. I also think it's sad that an entire industry is founded on disclosing the sordid details of these people's private lives.

Celebrities are just people though. They are human beings, just like you and me. They are not celestial beings with some great power that is unknown to mere mortals. They are just people. Very talented, very good looking people. As such, they have every right and reason to live and make mistakes like the rest of us. Few people in the world are going to step up and take my keys if I try to drive under the influence. No one is going to tell me, “Hey, J, you might not want to eat that donut/drink that coffee/take that ibuprofen, what with your liver and all.” It’s hard. 

So, why are we surprised when no one stands up to the likes of Amy Winehouse or Whitney Houston? How many people in this country drink or drug themselves to death every day? It’s not like no one knew they had a problem; no one had the balls to try and help them.

I'm not going to lie and say I don't have a huge streak of celebrity worship running through my veins. If I were to meet any of the people I idolize, I would make an utter fool of myself. It would be really sad. 

"You - do you know who you are?!? You're - you - Christian Slater! MARRY ME!!!" 

Yeah. 

Let's all just hope that never happens. 

Still, I don’t feel like my actions are detrimental to stars. I love talented people. I don’t really want to know when my favorite talented people do bad things. I have been known to groan “Nooooo. Not another drug arrest,” and leave it at that. I’m not rabid. I don’t want to know all the dirty details. I just want to know the good stuff. I would also like to think that I would have the balls to try to tell Christian Slater to knock it off with the coke, if ever I had the opportunity. (I’m pretty sure he’s clean now, though.)

I sound like I’m trying to justify my deplorable behavior, don’t I? I’m making all these excuses and caveats because maybe deep down, I know I’m just as wrong as everyone else. Would I tell Christian Slater about his coke snorting ass? I’d like to think so, but in reality, probably not. What if he got mad? What if he stopped talking to me? What if he hated me? I doubt I could risk being denied the opportunity to bask in his light. That’s a risk I bet few people would be willing to take. Why else would we continue letting these stars kill themselves? That leaves the question, who is really to blame for these things;  the star for being human, the tabloids for exploiting their humanity, or all the people like you and me who sit back and say nothing? 

I wonder.