Jon & Kate and the balloon boy hoax are the latest in what is becoming a disturbing, yet ever-expanding list of fame junkies; people who become famous simply because they crave fame. I’m already starting to miss the hellish tabloid days of Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears. We’ve reached a new deranged zenith when it comes to fame addiction. This is a strange disease. The strangest aspect of this addiction is that fame, in whatever form it comes, is the goal. It used to be that fame was the desired byproduct of a successful career. You became famous because you were a successful actor, recorded a hit song, or created a unique new product. Now fame itself is truly the name of the game.

How did we get here? From my perspective, it goes back to the OJ Simpson murder trial. That was perhaps the first true reality show. A real-life test became a form of entertainment, beating the ratings of most daytime shows that came toe-to-toe with it. Then we had a flurry of tabloid stories about celebrities getting it wrong. These celebrities got media coverage for their notoriety, not their talent. Paris Hilton then took the forefront, becoming internationally famous for, well… being Paris. Then came the real seismic shift, when reality TV began to make its mark. People began to see that they could become famous not because of their talent, nor because of their art, but because of the simple act of humiliating themselves in front of the world. Apparently, for many it is a worthwhile trade-off. Not only are there people who are willing to go to great lengths to get attention at any cost, but there is also a huge audience willing and eager to see them do it.

Then there is the business angle, the dollars and cents these people exist for. We have a voracious 24/7 news cycle. Along with networks and cable, we now have blogs and social networking sites. For years, the news has been based more on entertainment than news. But more importantly (going back to my OJ theory) after the producers saw the numbers generated by the OJ test, the light bulbs went off from coast to coast. What if they created their own tabloid shows? What if they killed actors, writers, directors, killed production values, and people humiliated themselves on national television? How cheap would it be to produce a series of current reality shows instead of trying to launch another ER, Friends, or Boston Legal? But would anyone look? Bet!

It’s all one piece, as I see it. You have people who would otherwise have no opportunity for media exposure now dominating the spotlight. You have production companies and networks that realize the value of this kind of fame-addicted media personality and you have an audience that is being conditioned to watch human train wrecks as entertainment. So, we end with The Bachelor, Wife Swap and The Real Housewife’s of Atlanta as our entertainment and metallic hot air balloon hoaxes as the top stories on the evening news. I guess we’ve earned it.

Copyright © Antonio Mora 2009