Perez Hilton: "bad for the world"

I love the effervescent side of culture. We're going to see Britney Spears in September, and I am seriously excited. Celebrity gossip is kind of a form of nationally composed literature - there are such amazing arcs! (Granted, many of the discourses these statements take place in are wildly misogynistic, and this is reflective of my identification with the plight! of privileged women).

I've been reading celebrity gossip for a loooooong time. Unfortunately, since my early, early college days, I've often visited Perez Hilton. Even now, even when I know about far superior and not fundamentally sexist sites, I still sometimes visit the utterly vapid and detestable page. I don't usually mention frivolous things like astrology, but since he is utterly trivial: he makes me ashamed to be an Aries. He is the worst of my sign and all the things I struggle against: self-centered, always convinced they are ultimately right, bullying.

Blah blah me me me. Anyway, I thought this was a great piece of web criticism via ONTD, from the always engaging Rich of FourFour:

But I don't care about that at this point, because I couldn't be less jealous of him especially given the current circumstances. I just kind of want to throw up my hands (or in my hands) and call out this character, this persona, this online half-person for what it is: bad for the Internet, bad for gay people, bad for the world. I can't help but feel like everything would be better off without him. I know that's a harsh and extreme point of view and believe me that I paused before typing that to actually consider him and his contribution to society. I'd go as far as to say I racked my brain and I've still come up with absolutely nothing positive or pro-social that he has brought to the world, at least on a public level (and keep in mind that I'm not following his every move, so I could have missed an act of philanthropy or two). But not even the "entertainment" he provides is to be commended, as it ultimately lowers the very low standards of the Internet. Forget the rich and famous, if you are a human being, Perez Hilton makes you look bad, no MS Paint necessary.

If you've never heard of fourfour, check it out. Particularly Winston:



(Another perspective on Perez:

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