The Tabs

Take a look at any magazine rack, and one can easily see that our society’s obsession with celebritys’ lives has spiralled out of control. The tabloid covers scream such important headlines as “Brad’s mom can’t stand Angelina!”, “Tom and Katie sleeping in separate bedrooms!”, and “Britney-DIVORCE KEVIN NOW!” Why is it that we are so fascinated by the details of other people's lives who we will never even meet? One of the common perceptual tendencies of humans is that “we tend to favour negative impressions over positive ones.” We love to read about the screwed up lives of the rich and famous and reflect that, although we ourselves are neither rich nor famous, we are at least getting through life with a bit of decency and class. Every little negative aspect of a celebrity's life, from a rocky period in a relationship to a sudden weight gain, makes us feel better about our own. The tabloids know this, which is why we very rarely see headlines stating what a wonderful and committed relationship Actress Y is in, or what a forthright character Actor X is. Although it's a sad commentary on our society, this Tabloid-mania does not seems to be dying down anytime soon.

To see an advertisement for a Star tabloid from 1977, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWs6Zc3VNsI