Another Point of Singularity

I know I should feel cruel about bringing this up. I know it's un-Christian and perverse to dwell on another's downfall with glee, but what the hell, I've always been suceptible to Schadenfreude. Ashlee Simpson, the no-talent prefabbed clown of the equally no-talent prefabbed (but more attractive) clown Jessica Simpson, recently was booed off the stage at the Orange Bowl. Many of us gloated at the Saturday Night Live gaffe, where she flubbed her lipsynching in a spectacularly embarassing manner. I have to give her some credit for taking another stab at 'live' performance at the Orange Bowl. Not particularly smart, but it took guts to try. The outcome was, again, embarassing. Determined not to lip-synch, the audience was treated to the dulcet tones of Ashlee's unadulterated pipes. 5 minutes into her screeching performance, the audience erupted into loud booing and jeering. Should have stuck with the lip-synch.

Don't take my word for it. See the whole nasty episode here.

Normally, I could give a damn. I could have lived my whole life without ever having Ashlee or her bimbo sibling ever entering my radar scope. I just care that little. As ridiculous as this incident is, it does bring into focus the glaring hypocrisy and chicanery of public consumption of mass-produced entertainment. What happened to having a sense of pride? I remember when people had some sense of shame about mistakes. Remember that great film, QUIZ SHOW (1994)? That was a real story. One of the protaganists, Charles Van Doren, was fed the answers in advance. He was caught. He confessed publically. And we NEVER heard from him again. No tell-all book, no spectacular comeback. Van Doren was humiliated, and he never sought to make a buck from it again. You may not like what he did but he paid the price for it. That was demonstrable integrity. Can you imagine Martha Stewart becoming a recluse when she emerges from prison in a few short months?

Didn't think so. Should we be surprised that Ashlee Simpson can so blithely sail through life telling lies, getting caught, and still hanging around?

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