What Makes Gossip So Interesting

Gossip fans are everywhere, in all countries, in all cities, and on all continents. Since old ages, people just liked gossip and rumors, they enjoyed talking about their peers when they were not around. Celebrities are included on the gossip topics most agreed upon list. Celebrity gossip makes the news so many times, so it is obvious that it is in human nature to notice the leaders, the people who stand out from the crowd and dissect their words, their clothes, their hair, or their behavior.

Celebrities like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears made the first page of many international publications, and not only once. Some of the famous people of this world had to suffer because of the paparazzi, and in some cases, they even lost their lives because of indiscreet looks. Princess Diana is only one example in this respect. She got killed in a car accident while she and her friend were chased by scandal journalists. Is a human life worth all that? I suppose not. But time cannot be turned back, so it’s time to head for the future and try to avoid such catastrophes from now on.

But who decides which celebrities make news headlines and which ones pass barely noticed? Is mass media responsible for this? It is very hard to tell. Journalists and especially tabloid magazines are searching for a particular type of news. They seek things that are blamable or shocking, and many times they chase misery. Happiness is not news. Misery is. If a movie star has troubles, let’s say she is stealing from supermarkets, this seems to be a hot topic for millions of people. Do you remember Winona Rider, to give you only one case of a star chased by the media for her supposedly bad habits? How many other people steal from shops and nobody cares? Too many, probably.

One simple explanation for the love for gossip, and for the important place it occupies in humans’ life, is that most people live a dull, boring life, so they seek excitement in the life of others. This explains also the success recorded by reality shows. Who would have thought that a time will come when millions of TV viewers will watch every night for one hour or so how a bunch of people are eating, sleeping, or taking showers in a house where they are like in prison, all-time in the objective of cameras.

Have you noticed how appreciated the celebrity gossip websites are, how many readers they have, and how many comments they receive on each article? This surely shows a huge interest in the private life of successful people, a desire to take models, and on the other hand to accuse and reveal ugly things from the beautiful lives of remarkable people. Like sex, drugs, and rock and roll, celebrity sells. Every housewife has dreamed at least once to become a great dancer, a famous singer, or a Hollywood movie star. Instead of that, here she is, at the age of 30 or 40, washing dishes and taking care of four to five kids who mess everything around the house and who are equal to an atomic bomb.