The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Who Are These People?

Re: Who Are These People?

Anuncie — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:14:11 -0000

Thanks for this article, very interesting, i like this.
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Re: Who Are These People?

anna perez — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:29:10 -0000

It used to really piss me off that there were almost no "Housewives" of color on these shows, until I actually watched one. Now I think we really dodged a bullet.

Re: Who Are These People?

anna perez — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:22:01 -0000

the only real star I ever wanted to emulate was Doris Day. When I started watching her "Pillow Talk" type comedies in the early to mid '60's I noticed that her characters almost always had a great job and a great apartment. As an "economically challenged" young African American girl, that "great apartment and great job" became my goal in life. And guess what? In the last 4 decades, I've had both, many times over. Who needs "reality" shows, when you can make your own?

Re: Who Are These People?

KL — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:32:40 -0000

"Who are these people?" I believe the only correct answer is "Who Cares?"

Re: Who Are These People?

Jennifer D. — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:25:38 -0000

I make fun of these shows until I actually sit down and watch one (unavoidable with three teenagers in the house and my bad parenting). I find them irresistible. Housewives of NJ + Rock of Love = TV crack. I still make fun of them while I'm watching them, but I can't stop! Until the kids kick me out for making too many disparaging comments.

Re: Who Are These People?

Jennifer D. — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:20:12 -0000

tmv, aka, Mark Zuckerberg?

Re: Who Are These People?

Geoff in DFW — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:05:44 -0000

Demolition Man is the highest of high-brow.

Re: Who Are These People?

pete from baltimore — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:15:18 -0000

Many people writing here seem to feel that celebrity worship is exclucivly an American activity.Sadly, this is not the case.

Whenever i read the British newspapers online [especially The London Times] ,it is obvious that the British are worse than we are.

Many of these "reality" shows started in Europe .Big Brother [ created in Germany] , Survivor [ started in Britain], ect. Even American Idol was origianly Pop Idol in the UK.

Celebrity worship is as old as humanity.We are just more high tech now, that's all.

Re: Who Are These People?

Adolphus — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:27:37 -0000

A lot of people here and elsewhere break out the "we as a society are to blame because we watch it etc etc."

Dave above says

"But you know what? We, collectively, as a society, are to blame as well for consuming this stuff.

I haven't gone back to review the demographic numbers, but I am sure that as the J&K train drifted off the rails over the last few years, the ratings numbers have gone up."

I looked up the ratings at Entertainment Weekly and according to them, the big J&K +8 season finale, their most watched episode ever, drew in 4.6 million viewers. There is what, 300 million Americans not counting tourists, illegal immigrants, and people here on student and work visas?

According to my calculator that means only about 1.5% of Americans watched their most watched episode.

I have a hard time for blaming society at large for the questionable taste of 1.5% of its population. What gets under my skin is the media that creates these stars fill our airwaves, internet, and publications with more and more drivel about them in some sort of synergistic, symbiotic relationship to that 1.5% (heck lets call it 5% and assume that some people wanted to watch but had to work) to make these McCelebrities seem more popular and important than they really are.

And the irony is that those of us in the 95-98.5% who insist upon talking about how much we hate them only fuel the buzz and their artificial sense of importance and popularity.

Re: Who Are These People?

sv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:24:21 -0000

i meant, i second this from tmv "If you don't like it, just don't watch it. I can testify that it's working for me."

Re: Who Are These People?

sv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:23:17 -0000

seconded

Re: Who Are These People?

BreakerBaker — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:03:00 -0000

All restaurants are Taco Bell now.

Re: Who Are These People?

CitizenE — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:42:21 -0000

Next to go all Derrida on ya: everything's a text. Highbrow/low ball--what's the diff--fast food gourmet world--even Mac Donald's in an ad so tunnel-visionly ironic it's hard to fathom sells coffee these days in a French accent--cubicle-lay. Bob Dylan singing for the Pepsi Generation with Will I Am. Kilroy/killjoy who can tell these days when the campiest American Idols block up the blogosphere with youtubia.

Re: Who Are These People?

tmv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:33:12 -0000

I agree with Lee that this isn't a big deal. I don't know half the names on that list, and all I know about the Jon and Kate thing is that they're some big family, on reality TV, who are now getting divorced. A couple weeks ago I couldn't even have told you that much.

If you don't like it, just don't watch it. I can testify that it's working for me.

Re: Who Are These People?

tmv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:28:42 -0000

I don't get the dislike for Facebook at all. Joining it has been one of the best things I've done for myself in awhile (even with the truly awful redesign that makes it impossible to weed the crap (quizzes, etc.) from the status updates.

It turned out to be a way to reconnect with people I didn't have in my life anymore, but wanted to be there. Critics of Facebook and these social networking sites will usually make some kind of lofty rhetorical statement about how people should pick up the phone and call each other. (Not you, trefingers -- I'm talking about pundits who are starting to get on my nerves.) People acknowledging reality will admit that there isn't nearly enough time in the day to keep in close touch with immediate family, let alone friends. Unless someone wants to grant us all a shorter workweek, free child care, etc., which would be nice, Facebook fills a void.

It's too easy to let people drift out of our lives when studies show that relationships are really the main thing that makes us happy.

I can sign onto Facebook and get a text form of the same casual interaction achieved by seeing someone on a daily basis. Someone announces their kid took his first step, someone passes around pictures of their vacation, someone mentions he craves ice cream ... these are all things you would encounter just walking through the office at work, but no one complains about everyone broadcasting their lives when it happens that way. Why is it any different because these things happen online?

I'm chatting now occasionally with people I knew back in college, friends I assumed lost. Because I read their status updates, we have a conversation starter more timely than "Hey, remember how we hung out over a decade ago?"

I keep my facebook group down to people I truly know and like, so anything I'm comfortable sharing anything I put on there. The updates from my friends are often wry and funny, we share pictures and links, sympathize, commiserate and joke.

And I kind of suspect that criticism of social networking sites as narcissistic is eventually going to go the way of "I hate talking to a machine" -- something so outdated you wonder what the fuss was back when.

Re: Who Are These People?

sv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:17:17 -0000

fapfapfapfwipfapfwipfap

**uh, sorry**

Re: Who Are These People?

uvasig — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:06:40 -0000

Funny that you call them "fast food famous", because just last night I saw this new sexed up Carl's Jr. ad with Audrina from "The Hills".

Still, it's got nothin' on the one with Padma.

Re: Who Are These People?

sv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:32:19 -0000

off-topic, just curious - is your handle "Nandi" Indian?

Re: Who Are These People?

sv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:27:03 -0000

Thanks for this enlightening comment.

Re: Who Are These People?

sv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:26:03 -0000

haha... bat baby.... are we showing our age by chuckling at that? does anybody still read bat baby tabloids? do they still do that story? i haven't been in a proper supermarket for a while, been getting groceries from delis/bodegas/smaller markets lately.

man this stuff moves fast... i'm 29..

Re: Who Are These People?

sv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:15:51 -0000

meh. it's like everything else on a mostly open market where there are a lot of choices - lots of it is garbage. doesn't do anything for me so i avoid it; it never made me dumber. yeah too much tv, especially w/ this kind of garbage, is bad for young'uns, but that's what parents are for.

but yeah it's sort of loserdom. weird i grew up thinking of myself as a loser but this stuff .. just a waste of time.

Re: Who Are These People?

sv — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:10:49 -0000

holy shit you guys are so high brow! I thought it was just a pop culture fascination with rich people.

Re: Who Are These People?

ellaesther — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:06:12 -0000

This is brilliant! Though I would argue that Paris, Zsa Zsa and K-Fed are Falsely Famous, or perhaps Famous For All the Wrong Reasons? For sadly, their Fame is not Fake, but rather all together too Real.

Re: Who Are These People?

ellaesther — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:01:01 -0000

"From a distance all you can see is green grass, flowers, and a cute fox. When you are standing in it you are bitten by the bugs, assaulted by hay fever, and can smell the left over carcass of the bunny the fox just ate." - I love that. In fact, I'm likely to steal it.

Also, I'm in Chicago, and our resident Beatles expert (Terri Hemmert, WXRT) likes to occasionally remind people of the inSANE merchandising that swirled around the Fab Four back in the (pre-internet) day. From nail polish to lunch boxes to wigs. While the Beatles (of course) actually deserved massive attention, it seems that there is nothing that cannot be turned into a purely capitalist enterprise -- and if the point is to create a capitalist enterprise in the first place (ie: reality TV and the tabloids)? Well then, the path to overload is very short indeed!

Re: Who Are These People?

Sorn — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:55:52 -0000

Thanks for this, McFamous...funny as hell. "You're the diet coke of famous, only 1 calorie....still not famous enough."

Seriously, it does seem that narcisim is a bit like an STD in today's society. Perhaps we could call it the Pox Americana. I don't understand it. Reality T.V. has given us a few real gems, for instance, I think everyone's jaw dropped the first time they heard Susan Boyle, and we have reality T.V. to thank for that, but we also have to thank them for too many real housewives, househusbands, and spoiled people in general.

If you'll excuse me I'm off to watch booknotes......... oh wait booknotes was cancelled.

Respectfully taking myself away from your lawn. That shotgun looks awfully big.