The Paris Hilton debate: Readers vs. The Rage

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Ed Note: Yesterday, I posted below that Paris Hilton’s movie bombed and hence, her overexposure had finally done her in. Many readers responded here by pummeling me for even posting about Hilton. A few even accused me of being on her publicity payroll.

Look, I’m disgusted by the popularity of Paris Hilton. When I see a picture of a young girl waiting in line to have her picture taken with a woman best known for a sex tape, I want to jump off a building. But I would also love to know what drives you to seek out these stories in the first place? The Times’ coverage of Paris Hilton’s arrest was our #1 story in 2007. The Britney Spears coverage and Heath Ledger stories are widely read too. Are we the media acting as the horse or the cart? And if we are the horse and the cart, aren’t you all feeding us the hay?

This week, the billboard on the corner of Sunset and Highland boulevards is entirely devoted to Paris Hilton. You catch her coming and going. One side endorses her new shoe line and calls her ‘the most talked about celebrity.’ Is that really a good thing? The flip side is an ad for ‘The Hottie & the Nottie,’ a movie that critics have collectively crushed like a clove of garlic. The film made just $9,000 last night when it opened. Her weekly Fred Segal bill is probably twice that amount.

Is Paris Hilton officially passe? It would seem so and The Rage suspects that she did herself in with her own ubiquity. From pouting at Sundance premieres to pouting at Super Bowl parties, the heiress seems to be everywhere at once. Plus, she hawks handbags, hamburgers, perfume, Prosecco and now a line of footwear. Maybe Paris is getting tired of herself too? The woman known for changing outfits every hour wore the very same tacky pink headband to both her shoe launch and the People pre-Grammy party later that night.