Pop Culture and Rational Decision-makers

I hate a lot of things about pop culture. On the other hand, I HATE a lot of things about how people complain about pop culture. Being angry about the fact that Paris Hilton is famous is the equivalent of being angry about the fact that coffee cost 5 dollars a cup at Starbucks.

Some prick: “This isn’t worth five bucks! It’s just water and coffee beans!” (points to the cup of coffee in his hand)

Prick who took intro to microeconomics: “I just watched you hand that guy five bucks in exchange for that cup of coffee.”

Some prick: “Yeah, but….” (awkward pause) “Fuck”

We are what we eat ladies and gentlemen. We are a nation of haters.

Hater: someone who dislikes or resents or disapproves of a player (the term is used to criticize people who are jealous or who don't respect successful people). ~ Urban Dictionary

The reason famous people are successful is not that they have any greater intrinsic value than anyone else. They are not the smartest, or the fastest, or even the best looking. They are the objects of our attention because they are the objects of other people’s attention. We require a frame of reference in order to relate to each other. Famous people provide this frame of reference. Basically, we find it more interesting to talk about who a complete stranger is sleeping with than to talk about something that has a more relevant impact on our own lives.

Relevant isn’t even the right word. Relevant implies that people have better shit to do with their time. Every day thousands of people choose to read People magazine rather than read Shakespeare. This means that either People magazine is more valuable than Shakespeare, or thousands of people make bad decisions every day. And the answer is…. ding, ding, ding… People magazine is more valuable than Shakespeare. That’s right, I said it. By any standard that matters (money, effort or time) people would rather ingest what dress Kate Bosworth wore to the Oscars than find out what Hamlet did to smoke out Claudius. As much as it pains me to say it, this is a rational decision. (See, I couldn’t even do it without italics) Pretending it’s irrational is a paternalistic waste of time. Imposing what I think people should be on what people are doesn’t change anything. Fuck it. Everybody loves Kate Bosworth.