Paris Hilton: We've Earned her Fair and Square

We deserve Paris Hilton, we've earned her in some measure. Unlike most though, I actually don't feel any acute hostility towards her. On my "I hate this celebrity-ometer", I actually find her less grating than Rosie O'Donnell, less pompous than Donald Trump, less ubiquitous than Rachel Ray. People say that they're tired of seeing Paris Hilton but I personnally disagree. I never really see her. We don't hang out in the same places, so to speak. I don't watch trashy television like E Entertainment or read trashy magazines like Us Weekly. I don't watch reality TV (the Simple Life, for instance), pre-Oscar banter, post Oscar coverage, or the MTV awards. I won't pretend that I've never seen or indulged in any of the aforementioned mediums, it's just not my habit to do so. Therefore, as a matter of habit, I don't see much of the Heiress at all.


Then Paris Hilton went to jail. The country went into an uproar. Nancy Grace nearly had an aneurysm. Lou Dobbs stopped talking illegal immigration for at least 8 minutes. I couldn't escape it either. U.S. society seemed to be split into howling thirds. One third screamed she got what she deserved. One third (the lawyers) clamored she got a raw deal. The final third angrily wondered why Paris Hilton was getting all of this coverage.


I'm a Stephen Covery fan so I'll begin with the end in mind. I think I know why Paris Hilton received all of this coverage. It's because we've asked for it. It's been said that a country gets the government it deserves. I suppose we get the celebrities we deserve as well. We treasure trash. We watch mind-numbing reality TV. We buy trashy entertainment magazines. We tune in to the most recent star sightings. Put these three together, bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and you might get a Paris Hilton, over 300 million served. Yes indeed, we've earned our Heiress, fair and square.


Some said that rich brat got what was coming to her. I think, however, that this sentiment has as much to do with with our collective ire toward the pretty and privileged elite who seem to play by a different set of rules. I remember rich 16 year old girls driving to school in their mustang convertibles and their 17 year old star quarterback boyfriends in their new Chevy Blazers. Most of them were actually okay one on one, sometimes a bit dim-witted but their parents had the right connections so they were always first with the new stuff, could afford the coolest class rings, and didn't have to choose between paying for the senior cruise or not having any money in their pocket while they were on the senior cruise. In the end, we like it when the privileged can't buy their way out of trouble. So yes, I suppose Paris got what was coming to her, in a way.


Others (mainly defense lawyers) felt that Paris got more time than she deserved. They have a point too. If I'd received two DUIs, I likely wouldn't have spent a day in jail, in San Francisco. In Texas, I may have received the death penalty. All things being equal though, people generally don't get much, or any time for driving infractions unless they killed someone, hurt someone, or are named Paris Hilton. I suppose it depends on the judge, but there probably isn't one judge in these United States of America who would want to live down being the one who let Paris Hilton off easy because she is a celebrity. And yes, it is unfair.

But life is unfair and so in the end Paris probably got what she deserved. And then she got out of jail and got an exclusive interview with CNN's Larry King, and we tuned in. Why? Because we deserve Paris Hilton. With our low standard for entertainment, we created her celebrity and now we're stuck with it.