How celebrities are winning unnecessary attention

Celebrity news. A subject that so many people pay attention to, almost to a fanatical state. I've never seen something so mind-boggling in my life; how some people can get so emotionally and mentally invested in the antics of their favorite movie and television stars while, in some cases, push their own problems aside is completely beyond me.

And for some reason or another, whether it's simply because we're a very social society or something deeper, we generally focus on the negative, usually outlandish behavior of said celebrities.

Take Charlie Sheen, for example.

Up until his breakdown and bizzarre interview a couple weeks ago where he ignominiously stated that he had "tiger's blood," was a descendant of Adonis, and was "bi-winning, not bi-polar," Sheen was nothing more than that one guy on Two and a Half Men. We didn't really pay any attention to him. I mean, I could barely stomach an episode of Two and a Half Men, and I had seen him once or twice in a passing movie or television show. However, since his episode, he's been all over the news, the internet culture has eaten up the hysteria by turning the interviews into a song, and I've seen handfuls of people sporting trendy t-shirts that have some quote from Sheen, whether it's his newly trademarked phrase "WINNING" or something along those lines.

Thanks to the surge of publicity, Sheen has decided to take his nigh-surreal rants and raves on tour. Needless to say, because of the craze, the show sold out almost immediately.

I'll admit, I made the pitfall of following the craze for a couple of days, but then it dawned upon me: this guy has problems. Serious, serious problems.

That being said, this whole thing begs the question of whether or not his actions are legitimate and he is in dire need of psychological help or if the whole thing is just an act and the man is sick and tired of living in the alienated corner of our brain as "that one guy from Two and a Half Men."

Sadly, celebrity news is a vicious cycle. As long as people continue to be in the spotlight, people will still follow it, and I've come up with a few reasons why:

1. It's a distraction. The world is going to hell in a handbasket. The economy is in the shitter, almost 10,000 people are missing or dead in Japan, the Gulf of Mexico is still recovering from the BP debacle (one thing I absolutely love to see is celebrities get involved with major world issues. James Cameron's aid was requested during the oil situation. I guess whoever was in charge of correcting the issue figured his ego would fit perfectly in the hole), and unemployment is on the rise. Hell, even our sports aren't without their issues; players in the the NFL draft may not show up due to disagreements with the management. What better way to entertain yourself than watch some dumbass celebrity make a fool of themselves on national television?

2. It's a reminder that even the pretty, pretty people that we invite into our homes on a nightly basis on our televisions and computers have problems, just like us. Not everything is perfect, or at bare minimum, looks as perfect in their lives. With that, take a look at Disney sweetheart Miley Cyrus. She just turned 18, which is news in and of itself. Thanks to the posturing from Disney, Cyrus became the poster child for the 10-16 demo, providing these kids with a positive, albeit annoying, message in her television show. However, this all come to a crashing halt when one night, she experimented with Salvia, a legal hallucinogenic substance, and was recorded doing so. Little Miley was practically ruined overnight.

3. There's a sick part in the human (or at bare minimum, the American) psyche that somewhat enjoys watching people "above" us fall from grace. It goes without saying that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. With that in mind, we see these falls and think to ourselves, "At least I'm not that bad." We then use that as a social barometer to justify our actions, knowing that somewhere out there, someone who was in the limelight has done worse and that at least we're not being recorded doing it. I refer to none other than the Jersey Shore for this, and perhaps this is the plight of most, if not all, reality television shows: it takes average, everyday people and leaves them starstruck, resulting in them doing very, very, very stupid things.

Whatever your reasons are, there's nothing terribly wrong with following celebrity news and happenings. The worse that'll happen is that you lose a few hours of your life and you have a t-shirt with a celebrity quote languishing in your closet a few months down the road.