Catherine's intriguing post and question reminded me of something I read a few weeks ago in the Washington Post Magazine, when Hank Steuver decided to end his celebrity column there. Here's the reason he gave:

I've started to feel a fatigue that I think must grip some sports fans, who, tired of the folderol that surrounds professional athletics, give up watching the actual games. The mind starts to disregard new players and new stats. Wanly flipping through what I hope is my last Us Weekly for a while, it occurs to me that I don't really know who Hayden Panettiere is, except that she's blond and on a show called "Heroes." Worse, it occurs to me I don't care who she is. I'm certain that, as her star rises, she'll date the wrong hunk, or suffer some legal or personal calamity, but she'll have to do it without my attention. By her indistinguishableness alone, Hayden Panettiere did me in.

I'm sure every one of us can sympathize with that kind of feeling -- and probably, for many of us, the sympathy is accompanied by a smirk at this parting jab at the latest product of the Hollywood machine.

But here's something to think about. Our goal here, a goal shared by all of us bloggers and the majority of our readers and commenters, is to try to look at all of life from God's point of view. ALL of life. Just for a lark, ask yourself this: Supposing that God Himself would ever deign to look at Hayden Panettiere, what would He see? Just another blond, indistinguishable actress? A product? Or something more?

Most of us here choose not to follow that part of the world that gushes with excitement every time a celebrity blows her nose or hits the divorce court again, and in my book that's a wise choice. But does that mean we need to follow that part of the world that dismisses them collectively with a "Get out of my face and stay out, annoying person"? Sure, it's tempting. It even lets those of us who are so inclined engage in a little harmless preening on how much gravitas and high-mindedness we possess. ("Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as this woman drooling over the photo spread of Anna Nicole's baby in the supermarket tabloid.") But following a different part of the world is still following the world, isn't it?

Could there, just possibly, be another way altogether?

Comments

[Brian]

Thank you! I have often wondered if we aren't just as poor off when we snidely dismiss celebrities as we are when we gush over their every move. I, for one, am not comfortable looking at them with contempt or mistrust. I try, my best, to look at them with humanity. I hope Paris Hilton is serious about her change in attitude while in jail. And if she stumbles, I won't delight in it. I wish her; just as I wish my mother, my neighbor, my friends, and the faceless bloggers at The Point; the best in life and the wondrous joy that comes with knowing our Maker.

[Susannah]

I agree, but I also relate to the gentleman's quote. The older I get, the more "celebrity indifference" I develop. I've never even heard of this particular young lady.