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Every time I go to the supermarket and stand in line to check out I see dozens of magazines or tabloids about celebrities. My question to anyone that buys these magazines or cares what is inside is, why do you care?

I can understand going to a movie because you are a fan of the star. I personally try to see any movie that Tom Hanks is in because he makes excellent films. I can understand why a person might want to go to a concert to see their favorite musician. There are many examples where a fan could be interested in a celebrity. That is where it should stop though. Why do people care if Nick and Jessica are breaking up? Why do people care what Ben Affleck is doing? If it wasn't for Matt Damon and 'Good Will Hunting' he would be working a construction site like he was in the movie, because he hasn't made a good movie since.

If my next door neighbor is having trouble with his spouse it is not found all over the magazines and tabloids. Why are 'celebrities' personal lives any different? They are not any more important than the rest of us, or are they? It is our hard earned money that makes these people famous in the first place. There are movie stars making $20 million a movie because we buy the tickets. There are drug dealers/gang bangers, making a fortune as rap stars because we buy their CD's and tickets to see them in concert.

The most unfortunate part of this fascination with celebrities is that more often than not, they are bad influences on younger people and bad examples to society in general. It is very discouraging when you see celebrities rarely being found guilty of crimes because they have high-priced attorneys that get them off. This is not to say they are all guilty but I think there have been cases when a guilty man was set free. Celebrities act as if they are immune to the same laws that apply to the rest of us.

It seems as time passes that people's priorities become more and more distorted. Instead of focusing our time and energy on people who need it, whether they are sick, homeless, undereducated, or what have you, people spend time and money following the people who need no help from anyone because they can buy all the help they need. Somehow I did not feel bad for Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt when they broke up. Both are very well-off financially, both are very attractive, they had multiple homes together with servants to handle all their needs. Their biggest concern was selling off their main home for $20 million. This is just not reality, but then again, maybe that is the reason people are caught up in their lives. At least the magazines and tabloids that discuss these very wealthy people do serve one purpose, they help to keep the homeless people warm on those artic winter nights.