The Last Laugh
Stephen Colbert was on the O’Reilly Factor the other night. I wasn’t sure that O’Reilly was actually going to get the joke, but when I watched the segment, I realized he was in on it. While I discussed it with my husband, he said something that I had to digest for a bit before I accepted it.
He said that Bill O’Reilly was the one who had the last laugh. Even though he spews some of the most ignorant and vile stuff on Television, he has the last laugh. We all know that Stephen Colbert is a parody character but has anyone entertained the thought that Bill O’Reilly is also a parody character? He is so hated because he says the most outrageous things, yet at the same time, he is insanely popular. I’ve begun to notice a pattern. Sometimes, It’s not the love that make people popular, it’s the hate.
I keep tabs on some of the more entertaining sites and started to notice this on the internet as well. Violent Acres wrote a piece about a boy “she” wronged in high school. It’s a well known fact that most teenage girls are not exactly the most experienced when it comes to romantic relationships. Most women can relate to the story and even conjure up their own “John”, despite their best efforts to forget the entire episode. The story gets crucified on digg. Why? Because her initial stories were some of the most scathing pieces. By intentionally being a meanie, she got the attention she needed and started her entries on her journey to self actualization. Despite anyone knowing if there is an ounce of truth to any of them, each one presents a journey. Why do people hate this blogger now? VA tends to rub people the wrong way because “she” apparently has gotten to the point that she can not give a damn about anything. And that pisses people off because they aren’t there yet.
And we have the blog war between Heaven Nose and Trainwrecks. HN was apparently successful in destroying a website that was popular because it was hated. Now, the hate has turned onto HN and they’re suddenly experiencing heightened popularity. Trainwrecks was mean. It was hated. It was popular. HN was also mean. It is now hated. Now it is popular.
It’s obvious that being mean is what people secretly want. They want mean behavior and subsequent drama that follows. If we all didn’t secretly crave it, reality television shows and celebrity gossip would not be popular. Face the facts: we *ALL* have our guilty pleasures. We either want to watch drama or being directly involved in it. Drama is created by people being mean. Meanness sells.
This is why sites like Trainwrecks will always be reincarnated in some form. VA’s self actualized posts will go on being hated because they all pick that one part in us that we refuse to admit to. Heaven Nose will continue to crusade against meanies by–you guessed it, being mean.
The question is: Do you want to be popular and are you willing to do the things needed to gain the attention? Does the end justify the means?
Maybe…..
January 20th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
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January 20th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
How odd…Jokes?
January 21st, 2007 at 9:29 am
This is very nicely thought out post! Finely a post from a blog that tries to see everything in a bigger perspective.
January 21st, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Yeah, “jokes”? Maybe they hit on the title and stopped at that? Odd…agreed!
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:47 am
Whoa, when you go to that joke link, and keep on going, it takes you to a Viagra ad! Misdirected marketing is what that is! LMAO!
January 25th, 2007 at 8:34 am
What reactionary garbage. I have no doubt that you hit the mark with Colbert and O’Reilly but you have completely missed the entire dynamic that happens with blogs like VA. You don’t “get” it.
This has nothing to do with “mean”. Our entire media of the current day is about manipulating people with drama, whether entertainment or news. Get people to react instead of think. A blog like VA is refreshing in that it has no pretense. It is exactly what she thinks about anything at any time. No political correctness, no fear of pissing people off with her actual views or actions, no need to impress anyone with meanness or kindness. Personal observations and epiphanies. It is like reading someone’s diary. It peals away all the culture, social norms, and courtesy and just shows a real person. After being fed so much garbage from the media trying to tell me how to think and feel, I personally am thrilled to get a dose of real, faulty person with feelings that I sometimes have too, like indignation, and regret even if I don’t agree with much of the attitudes and positions. It is not surprising that she mostly vents about things that irritate her, most of my friends start off with stuff like that too. It is like listening to a close friend that you may not have anything in common with vent about their day. It is a dose of intimacy.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:54 am
“By intentionally being a meanie, she got the attention she needed and started her entries on her journey to self actualization.”
I mean, I caught that part of this thoughtful piece.
Oh, and it’s “peels”, not “peals”.