‘Extreme Entertainment’ of Celebrity Trials
Re “Celebrity Is Often Its Own Best Defense,” Commentary, Dec. 30: The never-ending celebrity trials (O.J., Bill and Monica, the pending Michael Jackson case, etc.) may prove that entertainment is the antidote to human boredom. If one was to accept boredom as humanity’s permanent and most pressing condition, for example, then it is a fair assumption that celebrity trials are designed for public consumption and to satisfy the public’s ravenous appetite for extreme entertainment. Most of us don’t really care about the truth; we care about entertaining and distracting ourselves, reinforcing our political and social prejudices and justifying the moral compromises that define each of us. Iraq? Starvation? 9/11? Natural disasters? Dah! Give me Michael Jackson.
John Zacharia
Las Vegas
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