Celebri-spiral™: Enough Already

Our culture is in a celebri-spiral. We're conflicted over our ridiculous, growing celebrity culture consumption via magazines, websites, and TV shows. In 2007, my love/hate conflict made me take to the blog-o-sphere. All writing on this site © Dave Singleton 2009.

Friday, January 26, 2007

January 26, 2007: Celebrity Envy Causes "Affluenza"

My friend Suzanne sent me and our group of celebrity-hound friends a link to this story: Affluenza: Rampant Consumerism Erodes Us.

She added, "I definitely have this affliction. Which one of you gave it to me?????"

I can't single any one of our email group out. Since none of us gave her what some will call "afflu," but I think of as "envy flu," who did? Celebrity TV shows and magazines like Vogue, In Style, W, and US probably were the original culprits. But our group didn't help. We're carriers. The truth is that lots of us have, if not full blown "afflu," then at least an ongoing low-grade version that we carry around.

To learn more, I read the timely article that begins, "Beware the Affluenza Virus. An epidemic of mindless consumerism is sweeping the world with the compulsive pursuit of money and possessions making people richer but sadder. That is the stark warning issued by best-selling British psychologist Oliver James after a 'mind tour' of seven countries chronicling how depression envelopes the affluent." He didn't coin the term. There are lots of resources about it, including sites like this. But his is the latest examination of it.

'We have become addicted to having rather than being and confusing our needs with our wants,' James told Reuters in an interview.

I particularly liked James' few celebrity references in the study, including that "interviewing the affluent in Sydney was a depressing job," calling it "the Dolly Parton of cities in Australia, the most vacuous."

But the study stops short of asking the question "why?" What's causing this outbreak that so many of us sense? Honestly, how much of this is linked to celebrity envy-wanting what they have, wear, and do?

Reading celebrity magazines and seeing the clothes, homes, and style of celebrities du jour makes us want. Watching "The Fabulous Life Of..." and wondering why VH1 isn't producing a one-hour special on our lives makes us long. Thinking about other people's material possessions makes us sick. As the study shows, giving into the envy impulses doesn't satisfy. Spending it like Beckham makes us anxious.

The study doesn't address the reasons why, which I think is a big oversight. OK, there's affluenza. No argument. But why is it on the rise? The answer to that question will lead to the cure. Too bad there's no "afflu" shot in the near future.

Do you have affluenza? If so, what's your fever for?

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