I’ll start with a confession. I follow Charlie Sheen.
OK, it’s out in the open now. I’ve joined the 2.1million others who follow the champion of TigerBlood on twitter. (There were only about a million of us when I first started following him last week.)
So why am I following a man who keeps imploding at every turn? All it takes is a stop-off in the check-out line at the local grocery store and a view of the magazines on display to see that people are intrigued by celebrities, particularly those who have gotten into some sort of trouble. As a Public Relations pro, it’s been fascinating to watch first Charlie’s long-time publicist Stan Rosenfield quit, and then Charlie become his own media man. Sure, he’s looking for a social media intern but what I’ve observed over the past week it’s all Charlie behind (and in front of) the curtain.
Today CBS announced they’d parted ways with him yet my husband and I just sat mesmerized at the latest live SheensKorner (Charlie’s Ustream video). Perhaps it is because of the giant gulf between our “everyday” lives and those of a self-proclaimed winner. To what do you attribute our celebrity obsessed culture? Is it a case of “The bigger they are the harder they fall?”
6 Comments
It just goes to show us that publicity can be positive or negative, but we pay attention when people show up in front of us either way. Charlie helps reinforce for me that I’d much rather be known for the good that I do or my talent and gifts than momentary lapses of judgment (which, thankfully, have never involved any like Charlie’s). Sorry, Charlie!
We all slow down and look at car wrecks too, I guess. It seems to be human nature to be curious about other people’s screw-ups…
Linda, I tend to agree with you on the train/car wreck analogy!
I don’t think I can answer your question. I’ve never actually been interested in celebs … okay, I will admit that I do have a few favorite writers; namely David Whyte … if they count.
I seem to only be more and more disgusted today with our so-called celebs. At least Sheen has acted. Other “celebs” … well, what have they ever done; at all … just tell me one thing. This type of celebrity on pushes me further and further away from the television.
Now, why do we reward them with attention. Again, it’s a huge head-scratcher for me. I find them perfectly boring – and annoying; like the magicjack commercial.
Jeff, as I said on my MarketingMelPR Facebook page this reminds me of when I was a newscaster. Our videographer happened to get video of a guy jumping off a bridge. We froze the frame before he hit. We had more calls wondering who that guy was and why we didn’t show the whole thing!
Mel,
I came back … I felt like my earlier comment was; well, a bad mood. And I guess it was. We had a wonderful visit with our daughter over a long weekend. She went to her home yesterday and I’m finding it hard to get back to it.
I heard Jon Stewart say something great the other day about Lohan. In relation to some latest charge being reported by the mainstream, he said, “Llindsay Lohan makes a movie …. Now that would be news.”
I got a good laugh!