Should I go blond?

So on MSN today, one of the headlines is about the “latest celeb hookups and breakups.” I see this kind of thing quite often on “news” websites – yesterday, CNN even joined in with some kind of story about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Something about how they left Namibia for another country or another continent or another planet… whatever. And I just can’t help but think – do we honestly CARE that much about the minutiae of celebrity lives? Do we CARE if Brajolangelitt (or whatever mashed-together monker they’re known as these days) are in Namibia or London or New York or La Paz or Dhaka or Walla Walla?? And if we DO care about that kind of stuff, what’s WRONG with us?

I actually remember glancing at a magazine in a grocery store a few years back, and one of the headlines on the cover was announcing the shocking hair-color change of a famous actress (I can’t, at the moment, remember who it was… which hopefully is a good thing…). I remember being “shocked” myself that such an inconsequential change in someone’s appearance would be worth the paper the story was printed on. Surely the magazine publisher could’ve found something more substantial to write about…

I mean, it’s not like I KNOW these people. If one of my friends or family members were to move to Africa or even drastically change their hair color, of course I’d be interested. It makes sense to be interested in your friends’ and families’ lives, because it’s a way to stay connected… and when you genuinely CARE about someone, silly things like hair color can be more meaningful and help cultivate attachments. But Angelina Jolie? Tom Cruise? Jennifer Aniston? Why would I care one way or another about what they were wearing at some random awards show, or where they ate lunch on Friday, or what they bought while they were out shopping in Beverly Hills? Is it because I need to have conversation material? Are they coming over to my house for dinner tonight? Because if that's the case, I should probably go grocery shopping...

When we were on the road last week, we heard a comedian on the XM radio comedy channel talking about how fortunate we are to live in a country where things like this actually DO make the “news.” How incredibly lucky are we to have the time to even WONDER about where Brad Pitt is this week? How lucky am I to live in a country where I can actually be upset when the Yankees don’t win a World Series, because, for a fleeting moment, it’s actually an “important” thing? Too many people in the world don’t have those kinds of privileges, and I’m probably not always thankful enough that I DO.

And then again, when we ARE faced with problems and challenges and crises (as everyone, at some point, is) maybe these silly little celebrity blurbs are simply a way to empty our minds momentarily. Which I suppose could be useful, when you think about it.

Or should I say when you DON’T think about it?