KIM KARDASHIAN NUDE VS GAY SUICIDES -- WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT

Is this the zenith of our culture?

We have very good reason to be nervous.

First the good news. I have been heartened to see quite a bit of online discussion -- and much of it intelligent discussion -- about the recent gay suicides and the issue of bullying.

Ditto that for Columbus Day: a heinous farce if ever there was one.

Check out various Web discussion threads. People are talking. That's important. Education and communication are the predecessors of action.

I made my own comments on threads, leaving a link to this blog. Traffic shot up. I became a more active part of the discussion. Great!

Then, this morning, something else happened.

I trolled the morning news for things I might comment on. I stumbled on an article about "reality" show nimrod Kim Kardashian. A body that people like to look at and a mouth too many people seem to be willing to listen to.

In this case the story was about KK appearing nude on a magazine cover with headline bites strategically covering the X-rated bits. [see above]

I put a very brief comment and a link to an older blog post of mine called "THE IDIOT CULTURE." I don't know why, but I was shocked when traffic to that post shot up like a man sitting on a rattlesnake.

Every time I refreshed the pageviews there were more and more and more. Huge chunks of traffic.

Today will easily be the biggest traffic day yet. With eight hours left before the day's traffic count would end, it eclipsed yesterday's numbers -- and yesterday had already become the biggest traffic day so far.

Is this what we've become? I imagine that the people jamming the website/s with the Kardashian cover shot fall primarily into two categories: young people and those who want yet another look at KK's flesh.

Okay, I get it: We're all anatomy students when it comes to our libidos. And kids will be kids. But this is scary. We simply aren't sending out the right messages -- especially to our kids -- via TV, school, magazines, major Net sites and what we say and do.

Sure, there will always be phony celebs who are a bit of fun or a heart flutter for the younger teens. (Although, once upon a time, they actually had to be able to sing or DO something.)

But the idiot culture is out of control.

On top of that, this is another glaring example of a very real problem that's been around for decades and getting worse: the sexualization of, well, just about everything. (That's a subject I plan to write about another time. Stay tuned.)

No, we don't need to panic and call all reality show airheads "children of Satan." But we do need to start turning these shows off, putting these magazines down, and getting our kids doing interesting and creative things so that they won't end up living vicariously through -- or at least mimicking the lifestyles of -- these people. And we need to set an example ourselves.

It's all a matter of moderation and common sense.

And heaven help us all if we really have lost touch with those things.

Take care and exercise your brain today,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at TV -- PT. 1: GETTING A GRIP ON REALITY or THE IDIOT CULTURE or GAY SUICIDES -- IS ANYBODY GETTING THIS?.