Hmm...

The "Top 10 Celebrity DUIs of the Year"... well, that's certainly quite the headline. It reminded me of what Zenny was talking about in Mediated when he mentioned how people are just as quick to tear celebrities down and criticize them as they are to worship and follow their every move with the same kind of intensity of an obsessive compulsive man who repeatedly checks to see if the stove is off.

But is that really true? Someone- I don't recall who -said in class that there are actually two separate groups of people, the worshipers and the critics. And I've been contemplating that off and on ever since... and I've concluded that I have no idea.

It seems to me that there may be some truth in that. The website I linked to above seems to be on the side of the critics, given the tone of the article, and that this and another about celebrity car crashes are the only articles relating to celebrities that I recall ever reading on the otherwise automotive related website.

And there are always going to be people like that LEAVE BRITTANY ALONE guy. Strong supporters and lovers of famous people who are clearly beyond (or desperately in need of) help. (Guess which side I may lean towards? Though to be fair, I only feel somewhat in that direction. I'm generally pretty apathetic and not very critical except when some celebrity or another gives a bit too much schadenfreude inspiring behavior. Then I can't resist. I suppose I'm a bit of an awful person.)

So point in favor of the "two sides" argument.

But I'm still not convinced. I'm still curious if dZ is right. Are there people out there who will jump from "OMG I LOVE CELEBRITY X" to "OMG HOW CAN CELEBRITY X BE SO TERRIBLE?!" in the blink of an eye. And not just because of social pressure making them act the part of a critic of Celebrity X. I mean a serious shift in opinion, a genuine change in their loyalties. I don't follow celebrities enough to have any real defining experience of my own, I know what bands, singers, and actors I appreciate the work of, and that's about it. And like most anyone, there are celebrities I find attractive, or celebrities I think may be interesting people. And as is inevitable, I'm somewhat aware of the goings on in the world of the celebrity as well... But I've never found myself at the point of obsessively following any particular celebrities. As a result, I've never been presented with a situation where I could have possibly had my loyalties called into question like dZ seems to say happens.

I suppose one entity that it may happen to is the media itself. Some years ago Brittany Spears was generally portrayed in a positive light by the media. Now it seems that all the coverage is about her shaving her head, dropping her baby, and not being a particularly good driver. But I still have yet to meet an individual person that has experienced this kind of passionate change in opinion.

So I ask all of you out there... have you ever experienced a sudden reversal like that? Have any examples of it happening? Know anyone its happened to? Anything at all?

God I suck. I ramble so damn much. CONCISE WRITING IS A GOOD THING, BRIAN. I'm so sorry to anyone who read that.