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Journalism of Courage
Maybe you heardthen again,maybe you covered your ears. Actress Mackenzie Phillips talked about having sex with her dad,musician John Phillips,on the eve of her wedding. Rock star John Mayer compared sex with singer Jessica Simpson to crack cocaine. Meanwhile,Paris Hilton announced shes not having sex for a year. So glad we were told. Now,can everyone just shut up?
This phenomenon goes beyond gossip magazines and tarted-up television,although the media certainly functions as a prime delivery system for the sleaze. This is about people dishing outrageously and shamelessly on themselves,friends and family. Something has happened in the culture where for many people,filters are no longer in place regarding what is uttered in public, says Leo Braudy,a University of Southern California professor and author of The Frenzy of Renown.
Case in point: On a recent episode of VH1s Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss announced to actor Tom Sizemore,her ex-boyfriend: Tom,Im gonna go very easy on you. I look at you,and I feel so good,because youre such a loser. Then she added the insulting and insensitive tag,and the thought of being with you would turn a woman gay.
Lets deconstruct that magical moment. Fleiss was arrested in 1993 and charged with running a high-priced call-girl ring in Los Angeles that featured an A-list client book. A few years later Fleiss began dating Sizemore,who had significant roles in Saving Private Ryan and Heat. Both battled drug problems,and Sizemore was arrested for hitting Fleiss. The next step? Naturally,go on national TV and engage in a verbal smackdown.
Some people just want to make the other person look like garbage, says Jane Bilett,a Denver psychologist. So theyll say whatever and assume the public will be on their side. Reality TV has brought down barriers too,she says. I think our culture is no longer one that values privacy, Bilett says. Years ago people didnt even talk about what they paid for things.
The devil,as they say,is in the details. For all the sordidness surrounding his extramarital affairs,Tiger Woods at least showed some restraint and circumspection about the particulars,though much of the media pilloried him anyway. Not so the prostitutes,literal and figurative,who emerged to talk about Woods prowess in bed. Bradford Mudge,a pop-culture specialist at the University of Colorado,Denver,US says,We are complicit. We may feel smug and superior to Tiger Woods,but we still buy the papers and watch the TV coverage.
