Round up all of your reality TV stars, people famous for being famous, and overexposed celebrities with rabid fan bases, and you get a whole room full of people that get way too much coverage on the Internet.
Here are a few that in the last year have taken over the Internet and tabloids:
1. My girl Miley Cyrus.
Little Hannah Montana all grown up. She twerks, she smokes weed, she flies around half-naked on a giant wrecking ball… all the while stirring up headlines. We all know that Miley Cyrus takes some big risks to rebel against her Disney star childhood. With that said, we should remember to keep her age in consideration. Sure, she’s mature enough to know that what she’s doing may not be best for her image but, on the other hand, what 20-something-year-old person doesn’t randomly do at least one outrageous or scandalous thing? The difference is that for most of us, the media isn’t chasing us down to publish our questionable and/or mildly embarrassing actions. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s normal or cool to do half of the weird stuff she does, but I do think that we have to remember her judgement isn’t necessarily the greatest at such a young age. She’s going through a phase, like most of us do. (Although most of us don’t have a hazy, twerk-filled, giant teddy-bear dancing, druggy, dream sequence-like phase.) To everyone who is constantly freaking about the most recent Miley scandal: yeah, we CAN stop and we WILL stop.
2. Jennifer Lawrence.
J Law, America’s “It” Girl. At first I thought she was pretty cool and very realistic, not to mention a great actress. Sometimes it’s nice to see a celebrity be slightly less than perfect to remind us that they are human, too. But I’m starting to wonder if all of the tripping at public events is for realsies, or if it’s just a publicity stunt to seem “just like everyone else”. To me, it seems a bit disingenuous. Listen, I’m all about self-respect and being true to yourself, but sometimes I think she pushes it a bit too far. Example: J Law insists that she would never lose weight for a role. Drastic changes of appearance are common in method acting with weight gain and loss being popular choices. Some of the most amazing actors have changed for their roles and it didn’t make them any less of who they actually are, it just exhibited their dedication to their craft. (I love you, Jared Leto— you are wonderful at any size.) So, great as she is, we need to stop talking about Jennifer Lawrence the way we do. The constant “J Law is just like every one else” stuff is overkill.
3. Duh, the Kardashian family.
I’m done with this before I can even start it. That includes the Jenner family, too. I don’t care about pageant mom Kris or gender-confused Bruce Jenner. Now the Jenner girls have dominated popular media outlets. Wait, why are they relevant? Oh yeah, their sister Kim…
Famous for her sex tape, Kim continues to prove herself as unworthy of all the money she somehow keeps managing to receive. While Kourtney and Khloe are much more likable than Kim, I question why they still appear all over the news. Reality check: if a questionably alcoholic socialite who randomly paid thousands of dollars to become a lord is the same person who serves as the voice of reason in a family—hello, egotistical yet oddly charming Scott Disick—you might want to rethink your priorities in life. I used to love the E! network, until all of their programming became littered with mentions of the Kardashian/Jenner family. How many spin-off reality shows does one family need? I just keep wondering what happened to all of the E! True Hollywood Stories, where you learned about famous people who actually possess talent. If I’m watching an entertainment network, I want to hear about celebrities like Angelina Jolie or George Clooney who thrive on doing humanitarian work when they aren’t making award-winning films.
4. The Selena Gomez/Justin Bieber Romance Saga.
Everyone loves Selena because she’s a cute and fashionable former Disney Star who hasn’t totally gone crazy. Everyone loves to hate Justin; he’s an obnoxious, spoiled brat whose reckless behaviors have inspired a country-wide petition to send him back to Canada. Selena and the Biebs have been in an on-again/off-again relationship that continues to make headlines. Here’s how I see it: when older people reflect on their lives, many realize they didn’t marry some person they started dating when they were still in their teens. Why are we so desperate to dwell on a relationship that probably does not have a lasting future? No one wants to relive failed relationships and I can’t imagine all the magazine covers and internet articles that Selena and Justin might stumble across after their probable breakup that remind them of “the way they were” and make the healing process more difficult. Let’s be real, most of us delete our pictures with our exes in the hopes that we (and everyone else) will forget and move on— Justin and Selena will never have that option. Maybe we should make a formal petition to stop the constant press coverage over the Selena/Justin romance.
5. Sorry, everyone… Beyonce.
So many people definitely hate me right now for saying that, but really. I understand we are supposed to love Queen Bey, but her publicity has gotten to a point that can only be considered beyond excessive. The redundant articles discussing her fierceness, or gossiping about her possible marital problems with rapper extraordinaire Jay-Z, or complaining about Blue Ivy’s hair care routine— it’s getting old, people! The woman is undoubtedly a talented singer and actress, but let’s just leave it at that. No need for multiple articles throughout the day updating us that Beyonce ate kale chips and quinoa, or that she publicly appeared in army pants and flip flops.
I swear I’m really not a celeb hater and I would not deny the fact that most of the people on this list are absolutely talented in some way and are deserving of their fame and admiration. I just think that we need to stop publicizing their every action to the extent that we do.