Yes, I am writing an article about Paris Hilton. I am not proud of this fact. If someone else were writing an article about Hilton, I would attack their intellectual vacuousness and lambast their insistance on beating a dead, rather overexposed horse. But it occurs to me that our national fixiation with this woman and her latest exploits must have some underlying cause. We derive something from our obsession with this poor woman. So I decided to spend some time researching our national punching-bag. In this exercise, some questions crossed my mind. First off, how did Hilton manage to become so mentally... lacking? What excuse does Paris Hilton have for being a high school dropout? How did she become a person so lacking in mental fortitude that a grown woman screams and cries for her mom at the prospect of going back to jail for a short time? (The reason of her departure, by the way, was itchy blankets) How does a species which has produced countless models of brilliance, selflessness, and virtue also produce Hilton? I don't want to attack Hilton, I feel sorry for her if anything. The nature of my question is inquisitive, not accusatory. Hilton represents a broader phenomenon. The superrich, it seems, produce horrendous offspring. This is not a new phenomenon either. The first person that usually comes to mind when I think of Hilton is, in fact, Marie Antoinette. When a child is raised in a condition of absolute opulence, that child has had a form of extreme sensory deprivation. The poor creature has had no incentive to accomplish anything in his or her life. The mind becomes putty. The children of the lower ranks, think Buffet and Gates, seem to be bettewr even at dealing with money. Of course, this is not always the case. Families like the Kennedys and the Roosevelts come to mind. So then, where is the line between JFK and Paris Hilton? I don't really know. To be perfectly honest, the super-wealthy baffle me. From their ranks come a great deal of disasters. Occassionally, though, these families produce figures actually worthy of using the resources they were born with. Only imagine though, what a man like John Kerry could have accomplished if only, alas, his family had been upper-middle-class!
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Paris Hilton Syndrome
Yes, I am writing an article about Paris Hilton. I am not proud of this fact. If someone else were writing an article about Hilton, I would attack their intellectual vacuousness and lambast their insistance on beating a dead, rather overexposed horse. But it occurs to me that our national fixiation with this woman and her latest exploits must have some underlying cause. We derive something from our obsession with this poor woman. So I decided to spend some time researching our national punching-bag. In this exercise, some questions crossed my mind. First off, how did Hilton manage to become so mentally... lacking? What excuse does Paris Hilton have for being a high school dropout? How did she become a person so lacking in mental fortitude that a grown woman screams and cries for her mom at the prospect of going back to jail for a short time? (The reason of her departure, by the way, was itchy blankets) How does a species which has produced countless models of brilliance, selflessness, and virtue also produce Hilton? I don't want to attack Hilton, I feel sorry for her if anything. The nature of my question is inquisitive, not accusatory. Hilton represents a broader phenomenon. The superrich, it seems, produce horrendous offspring. This is not a new phenomenon either. The first person that usually comes to mind when I think of Hilton is, in fact, Marie Antoinette. When a child is raised in a condition of absolute opulence, that child has had a form of extreme sensory deprivation. The poor creature has had no incentive to accomplish anything in his or her life. The mind becomes putty. The children of the lower ranks, think Buffet and Gates, seem to be bettewr even at dealing with money. Of course, this is not always the case. Families like the Kennedys and the Roosevelts come to mind. So then, where is the line between JFK and Paris Hilton? I don't really know. To be perfectly honest, the super-wealthy baffle me. From their ranks come a great deal of disasters. Occassionally, though, these families produce figures actually worthy of using the resources they were born with. Only imagine though, what a man like John Kerry could have accomplished if only, alas, his family had been upper-middle-class!
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7 comments:
Errrrm, seems a bit of a stretch, this point. That is to say, class plays less factor into the formation of character than parental attitudes and upbringing styles. Wealth certainly has its impact, but I think in the end, a person's ambition or devotion are the product of morals instilled by the parents, or lacking those, childhood atmosphere.
For instance, Churchill was an absolute brat as a young lad (several humourous tales come to mind), due essentially to cold splendor of Marlborough Hall. However, as he matured through school and the military, he had the morality of civil service put upon him.
And, while he still had the ideological conservatism from his youngest days, he eventually would support greater healthcare measures (sitting as a Liberal at one point) and ultimately became Prime Minister.
There are also Hiltonesque stories from the lower classes (i.e., a drunkard's son who drops out of school to take after his father).
and you call yourself the socialist voice...
back to the old nature vs. nurture argument? Is it class or breeding or the parents or was she just born that way? If Hilton was born in different circumstances would she act any different? Do you believe that people with addictions are genetically predisposed to become addicted, that it is their "chemical" destiny? Also, if there is no incentive to work, human nature dictates that the super wealthy will do squat? What is your view on the upper middle class then? Children of parents who coddle their children and make their lives as cushy as possible? Do you think these children, too, children who reside in wealthy pockets of urban and suburban areas in America are of the same cloth as Hilton? It would seem that their excesses also enable them to do close to nothing, to feel an incredible sense of entitlement, to worry mostly about themselves only.
No, I disagree. The upper-middle class produces the most productive children in my opinion. It has something to do with the fact that they have a priveleged upbringing but still often realize that their relative prosperity is grounded in something.
really? what about those who work hard to surpass their parents? That's pretty hard to do as upper middle. What about lower?
It happens most often in upper middle though. Being sucsessfull from anything lower than that
(at least in the US) is mucxh more difficult.
Honestly, I don't think that Hilton has any excuse. I mean, I also feel bad for her, but she kind o brings all of this upon herself. She is the one who chooses to be so "provacative" if you will, and she should know, by experience, if nothing else, that the media will eat up any thing she does. She could really use that force for good...
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