I'm not sure if it's an accurate perception, but the media-driven world seems to be becoming a lot like WWF wrestling -- fabricated and multi-layered conflict in order to garner and hold attention. I'm not talking about the old-fashioned "if it bleeds, it leads" maxim, but about fabricated inter-personal conflict between people in the media themselves to create news where it doesn't exist.
It seems that, more and more these days, someone in media is upset with someone else or even just raised their voice at them, and this becomes a story that lasts for at least a few days.
The latest example was the Ricky Gervais thing at the Golden Globes. The whole thing was fabricated, I have no doubt. Yes, people acted as if offended at what Ricky Gervais said. But have we forgotten that these people are professional actors being awarded for their ability to act? Ricky Gervais himself repeatedly delivers his performances as if everything is just occurring to him off the top of his head, and this is done night after night at his standup shows, and repeated for TV audiences on the night-time talk show circuit.
It's the mainstreaming of WWF wrestling. Here's a WWF promo from the 1990s:
And this isn't all that related, but who cares if Oprah has found out that she has a half-sister? Why should anyone care about this? Even if you like Oprah -- why?
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