To close out the year (and to give you folks something to read while I finish up scripts), tMR is listing the "Top 20 Trends of 2007". But I need your help putting them in order. Starting Friday, you'll be able to vote for the trend you think is the most important. Somehow, there'll be a prize involved. I've got to figure it out. If you have a suggestion for a trend, email me.
2007: Mean Girls
On the surface of it, the drug-fueled train wreck that is Lohanspearshiltonrichie is awesome; rich, privileged girls perform HI-larious stunts (ranging in creativity from driving drunk to shaving your head in front of the paparazzi), showcase the injustice of the criminal justice system (by avoiding it) and publicly back stab each other on any of the network shows more than willing to roll over and satisfy our collective fascination with America's favorite problem children.
But even if the objects of our attention have no depth, there is an undercurrent to our obsession with them. American culture is a deeply misogynistic one and never so clearly as when it's delighting in the destruction of sexually promiscuous women. But we've gone from eulogizing candles in the wind after the fact to
active speculation of when and how Britney Spears will kill herself. It's the modern day gladiator tournament, with the maddening crowd goading these fame addicts to the grave. Spears et. al. are on the hook for their behavior, but we're not off the hook for watching it. Are these women a fascinating distraction from the tedium of our own lives or merely a reflection of it?
Labels: 2007, los angeles
