March 10, 2007: Scarlett Johansson on Celebrity Tabloid Culture

I've never read anything about Scarlett Johansson, so she's a rare celebrity clean slate for me. I loved her in Match Point and Lost in Translation. I know she's dated some hot leading men, like Patrick Wilson and Josh Hartnett. I get a hip, sultry, wise-beyond-her -years vibe. But other than those factoids, I had no personality snapshot of her until now.

She's the cover subject of Parade magazine this week. In the interview, she talks about avoiding paparazzi, her looks, and other self-absorbed topics that are de rigeur for a typical celebrity interview.

But when asked about her recent foray into the tabloids, as the other woman in the Cameron Diaz/Justin Timberlake breakup, she made a comment that I thought was rather celebri-spiralish of her:

"I think people today are very cynical. They need to bring other people down. Reality television and tabloid magazines-never before did we need to see movie stars taking out their garbage. But all of a sudden, it's front page news-trying to figure out who's dating whom, all that stuff. There are so many other things, shocking news stories that we should be paying attention to. But that's kind of how it goes. It feeds itself."

I don't know. Does it feed itself? Or does the media feed it, and people just gorge on readily available junk food, like they're at a Las Vegas all-you-can-eat-buffet?