Jade Goody Dead

[Brazen]

Naturally.  The Euro countries are all relatively poor and so have large lower classes, and the lower classes are coarse and terrible by there very nature.

Sadly some of them are so poorly educated, they never learn the difference between their and there.

[Caliga]

Sadly some of them are so poorly educated, they never learn the difference between their and there.

Canadia = Euro now? ???

[Neil]

Naturally.  The Euro countries are all relatively poor and so have large lower classes, and the lower classes are coarse and terrible by there very nature.

Sadly some of them are so poorly educated, they never learn the difference between their and there.

Die in a fire.

[KRonn]

I have a hard time grokking this, but I never heard of this chicka until her media-fulled death watch. her celebrity sounds really weird.

yes, tabloids are low calorie, bad nutrition. like english food. is this really the first time teh tabs have been analysed by other media?

Never heard of her either till Languish.  Really didn't know anything about her till I read this article.  It's very weird.

Same here for me. Good read though in the OP.

[Richard Hakluyt]

It's an interesting phenomenon. My hypothesis is that these talentless celebrities are a substitute for the social needs that used to be met by neighbours and family. Instead of having a real life, isolated people gaze  at the television and live through that.

People with more get up and go play WoW and/or gossip on boards like this of course 

[Brazen]

It's an interesting phenomenon. My hypothesis is that these talentless celebrities are a substitute for the social needs that used to be met by neighbours and family. Instead of having a real life, isolated people gaze  at the television and live through that.

People with more get up and go play WoW and/or gossip on boards like this of course 

So by gossiping about why we shouldn't talk about the famous-for-being famous here, are we in danger of creating some kind of wormhole in the fabric of the space-time continuum?

[Richard Hakluyt]

What is interesting is that even intelligent and well-educated people like sheilbh get sucked into the reality vortex  ???

Perhaps, once a certain percentage of the population is interested in such matters, it becomes almost impossible for the remainder to ignore them. One can say, loftily, that Jade Goody doesn't matter; but I think that would be an error; she matters (in the UK) because millions of people are talking about her.

[Brazen]

Shelf would have to hand in his gay card if he didn't show interest in reality TV, though.

[Sheilbh]

What is interesting is that even intelligent and well-educated people like sheilbh get sucked into the reality vortex  ???

It's irresistable.  I've not had a TV aerial for 3 years (I use my TV for DVDs only) and a big part of that is that I know I get very easily addicted to reality TV.  Though I have some standards.  My favourites are the Apprentice and Big Brother.  I also love kitchen ones, though I prefer The Restaurant to Hell's Kitchen.  Having said that I think I fell a little in love with Marco Pierre White a couple of years ago.

I don't like the ones with celebrities or to do with dancing.

I blame this on fly-on-the-wall documentaries when I was growing up.  I loved the one about the Adelphi in Liverpool ('just cook will you, cook!') and right now I think Sissinghurst is just a joy.

And I just looked up Batboy and I think tabloid maybe means a different thing in the US.  The ones here deal with serious news as well, not just celebrity and stuff.  They're incredibly entertaining and extraordinarily biased.  They're also the most popular newspapers in the country and any one of them has a higher circulation than any American paper with the exception of USA Today.

[PDH]

It's an interesting phenomenon. My hypothesis is that these talentless celebrities are a substitute for the social needs that used to be met by neighbours and family. Instead of having a real life, isolated people gaze  at the television and live through that.

There is probably something to this.  The idea of being a part of a large social community, with its gossip, support, shaming, and even ostracism is often lost for the modern person.  We get to live our lives now through an imagined community.

[Sheilbh]

Could it be that Britain has become EVEN TRASHIER than its notoriously lowbrow offspring the United States?

We've always been trashier.  America's vulgar.  There's a difference.

Trashy is, if you'll excuse the phrase, white trash, Gin Alley, bearded ladies, royalty on plates, cottage scenes and mawkish Victorian sentimentality.
Vulgar is what trashiness is without such a big class system.  Vulgar can make it, trashy never can :p

[dps]

And I just looked up Batboy and I think tabloid maybe means a different thing in the US.  The ones here deal with serious news as well, not just celebrity and stuff.  They're incredibly entertaining and extraordinarily biased.  They're also the most popular newspapers in the country and any one of them has a higher circulation than any American paper with the exception of USA Today.

Well, yeah, their circulation is larger, because as I understand it, they're nation-wide.  Here in the US, USA Today and the WSJ are essentially the only nation-wide daily newspapers--for the most part, our newspapers are local.

[Sheilbh]

Well, yeah, their circulation is larger, because as I understand it, they're nation-wide.  Here in the US, USA Today and the WSJ are essentially the only nation-wide daily newspapers--for the most part, our newspapers are local.

Yeah I understand that.  The local newspapers is part of why the American papers more dull, worthy and trustworthy.

Although I think even taking population and so on into account the UK is one of biggest newspaper consumers in the world.

[Grey Fox]

Hell's Kitchen.

Have you seen the American version of HK?

[grumbler]

Yeah I understand that.  The local newspapers is part of why the American papers more dull, worthy and trustworthy.

Although I think even taking population and so on into account the UK is one of biggest newspaper consumers in the world.

True, but in part that is because British newspapers are generally so small in page count.  It was easier for me to read two newspapers in Britain than one in the US.  I would add, though, that it was also a lot more fun.  There are adavantages and disadvantages to having papers that don't take themselves too seriously.