TMI, TMZ

I hate TMZ and celebrity news outlets with every fiber of my being.

TMZ focuses solely on celebrities and celebrity-based news.

Basically, if there’s a public toilet Christina Aguilera took a dump in, TMZ has found it and has already rigorously dug through it in the name of journalism.

While they’re obviously the most guilty of the bunch, TMZ isn’t alone in its mission to destroy any semblance of a personal life for celebrities.

Fox News, ABC and CNN all have portions of their programming set aside for delving into the lives of movie stars. 

Maybe it’s just me, but I have no idea why people feel the need to know every single thing there is to know about the celebrities they love.

Who cares whether Lindsay Lohan is going to go to rehabilitation? Does it really matter at this point?

Fame has already made her into a dried-out husk of the person she once was, so can’t we just let her be?

Aside from the fact that this practice is just boring, I think it’s extremely invasive.
I know that with fame comes the death of privacy, but is nothing sacred?

I’m all for hearing the latest news about celebrities and their assortment of creative projects, but there’s a line, and it’s been crossed many times.

It’s gotten to the point in which a personal life no longer exists if your name is even slightly recognizable.

In what way do we think we have the right to go rooting through these people’s lives like this?

Remember when news outlets like this drove Britney Spears crazy?

If someone followed me around all day, demanding information about my relationship status and taking my picture like that, I probably would have gone insane, too.

I don’t see why the acceptability of this should be based on whether I have a new album out.

So lay off the celebrities, and give them some slack.

We might like to have them up on pedestals, but they’re human.

Just like the rest of us.

­— kevsjack@indiana.edu