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TheChulFinalAnalogy

Page history last edited by PBworks 18 years, 5 months ago

Celebrity Magazines and Fast Food

Everyone in our society, at one time or another, has succumbed to the powers of consumerism, as well as the hype of the media. By connecting the two, one can claim that reading celebrity magazines is like eating fast food. Just like fast food tastes good and is easy to eat, celebrity magazines are entertaining and easy to read. Both celebrity magazines and fast food are overly available and convenient- especially for those who are ‘on the run’. Celebrity magazines become a more practical read for busy people, rather than books or novels, which take too much time and energy to actually read. One could say that novels are to nutritional meals just as entertainment magazines are to fast food. When people read celebrity magazines, they are lead to believe that they’re being informed about very important, “must-know” information- but really, it’s not significant at all. You pay money for the magazine only to get paid back with shallow but seemingly “important” information about the lives of the ‘almighty’ celebrities and how to be more like them. Therefore, there is actually no value whatsoever in this information- unless you consider advice about what’s hot and what’s not important.

 

The bolded sentence is the thesis and is a good place to end the first paragraph.

 

As for fast food, it’s valued for its convenience, not it's nutritional value. Just like celebrity magazines, fast food is fun, and it tastes so good! That’s about it though; that’s where the good part ends. After the satisfaction of its taste and indulging until you’re no longer hungry, all you’re left with is a stomach full of grease, fat and indigestion. The same goes for the feelings people get after reading enough news out of a celebrity magazine.

 

After reading about multi-million dollar houses, perfect bodies, and the “hottest people in the world”, one’s own self-esteem and self worth tends to take a plunge. (The claim is common sense, I suppose, but is there any other support?) All of the Hollywood gossip and drama really only benefits the celebrities (if at all), while the only thing the average reader takes from it is an unrealistic desire to live more like the stars. It is that unrealistic longing that eventually manifests into feelings of self worthlessness and a negative self image. So why do people even read these celebrity magazines, if it creates such negative feelings? Why is it that people are so interested in the actions and lives of “famous” people- “beautiful” people? What is it that sucks ‘normal’ people into the gossip and drama of the lives of the stars? For one, it’s the convenience, just the same as fast food is convenient.

 

Are there any studies that show a strong correlation between reading celebrity mags and low self-esteem?)

 

Convenience is key when it comes to purchasing entertaining reading material, just the same as it is when you need food on the go. Standing in line at the grocery store, one can often find his or herself getting sucked into reading the latest tabloids of celebrity gossip- Brad and Angelina did what?? And how does Jen feel about this?? All these magazines are so ‘conveniently’ located at the spot where the marketer knows you’ll be standing and waiting- and who wants to just stand and wait when they can catch up on the details of the latest celebrity weddings? Relating back to fast food, there’s the convenience of the drive-through, so people do not even have to get out of their cars in order to get some food! While it has been established now that both celebrity magazines and fast food are bad for one’s health, it just does not seem to override or overshadow the power of convenience.

 

The convenience criterion is a bit difficult to support. Newspapers, for example, are very readily available (e.g., through vending machines). Maybe convenience is code for "ease of consumption."

 

As for a difference between the relationship of celebrity magazines to fast food, it is true that while there is absolutely no importance in celebrity magazines, fast food is still food, and therefore is not totally worthless. (But celeberties are in the entertainment business, and the magazines are entertaining. I suppose that the issue is what type of entertainment is of worth. But that indicates there's an important enthymeme at work that needs to be unpacked.) If someone was starving or only had a limited amount of money, ruling out fast food as an option to help them would be unrealistic. While it can be very unhealthy to eat it frequently, eating it once in a while will not kill a person. This is also true for the celebrity magazines- once in a while is fine, but it is the frequent, devoted readers who face the dangers. Another difference between the analogy of celebrity magazines and fast food is that some fast food restaurants actually serve healthy food such as salads. As for celebrity magazines, there really are no ‘healthy’ types- it’s pretty much all the same gossip and drama in every one. Even though there are some healthy food choices at several fast food restaurants, the images of and cravings for having a “Big Mac” and some large fries tend to overshadow the healthier options.

 

All in all, celebrity magazines are like fast food for several reasons. For one, they are both EASY, to read and to eat. The information in celebrity magazines is not of any importance whatsoever (there’s no value in it), whereas the food people get at fast food restaurants is usually not nutritional, and they both have negative affects on ones health, both physically and mentally. And lastly, it all comes down to convenience- celebrity magazines and fast food are both so miraculously convenient that most people have a hard time resisting at least one or the other.

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