Whether they pimp themselves out for money, fame or love, we’ll take it
Posted on April 24, 2008
Apparently, politicians love sex scandals. With the Detroit mayor texting his mistress at a fourth-grade reading level and a certain Senator hanging out in airport restrooms, this has become abundantly clear. The trend continued when it was revealed that the now former mayor of New York, Elliot Spitzer, was involved in a prostitution ring. How could such a level-headed, intelligent individual do such a thing? This can’t be! The same man who attempted to legalize same-sex marriages in New York loves prostitutes!?
This did not surprise me in the least. Being a politician does not mean you’re infallible and this is certainly true in Spitzer’s case. Spitzer is human, after all, and humans do stupid things, like becoming involved in high-dollar prostitution rings. These things happen. The part that most concerns me is America’s recent media obsession with a Miss Ashley Alexandra Dupré.
As I scanned through various news stations during the worst of the scandal, all I saw was Myspace pictures of a fairly attractive girl while no-name music producers were describing how talented a musician she was. “Who the hell is this?” I asked myself. Then it was revealed to me. This was Spitzer’s choice escort.
I was in shock as news anchors discussed how easily it would be for her to obtain a record contract in light of her recent media exposure. Are you serious? I’m not saying that Ashley Alexandria Dupré is a bad person. She could be the coolest prostitute ever. However, I think we can agree being a paid escort, sleeping with a married politician and appearing in several “Girls Gone Wild” videos should be considered morally reprehensible, not grounds for starting a music career.
This is a fine example of how low the value of fame has dropped in recent years. People are becoming famous for virtually no reason. Once upon a time, you needed to have things like talent to be famous, but now it’s just what you’re willing to do.
Here are some of the top offenders:
Paris Hilton
I think we’re all familiar with Ms. Hilton, but I’ll summarize just in case. One of the heiresses to the Hilton Hotel, Hilton has kept herself in the limelight by not wearing underwear, appearing in sex tapes, making horrible music and co-starring in “The Simple Life” with the equally horrible Nicole Ritchie.
After a DUI charge and subsequent suspended-license violations, Hilton was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating probation in mid-2007; she actually faced something we normal people call consequences but only served 22 days of her sentence. She recently was quoted saying “I think I am a good role model.”
Tila Tequila
She has the most friends on Myspace.com. That’s it. Seriously. If you go to her Myspace page, you will notice that she is also a singer but I wouldn’t necessarily classify her music as “good.” She was given a show on MTV called “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila,” a bisexual-themed reality show where she had to decide if she wanted to do a man or a woman.
This show spawned a spin-off reality show called “That’s Amore!” — a dating show where girls compete for the love of an extremely Italian man who wears shirts that say things like “Vagitarian.” Nice.
Kim Kardashian
She is the daughter of one of the late lawyers that got O.J. off the hook, who also happened to be obscenely rich. She now has a reality show on E! called “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” where a camera crew follows her entire family around and nothing even remotely important ever happens.
I’ve only seen this show one time, but I found the plot of that episode particularly interesting. The episode was centered on Kim and her decision of whether or not she wanted to do a nude spread in Playboy.
On the surface, this seems like a legitimate concern. The decision of whether or not you want to expose your naked body in one of the most popular men’s magazines in America is one that warrants a serious amount of consideration. With your integrity on the line, this is a tough choice. This would all make sense if, you know, if she didn’t already have a sex tape on the market.
Maybe I’m a purist, but I think fame should be something you actually earn. I know that sounds crazy, but I think it would be a much better system. I’m probably just jealous.
Only in America is it possible to be an escort, sleep with a governor and then become a recording artist. God bless the U.S.A!
Michael Larrick is a sophomore SMAD major.
