EDITORIAL: Getting in touch with ‘celebreality’

Lately it seems like there isn’t anything that celebrities do not get away with. If they do get punished, it’s not like they quit the habits that got them into trouble in the first place. They end up right back on a magazine cover, partying like they never had their awkward mug shots slapped onto the nightly news.

But really, why do people care so much about someone who really isn’t a great influence to anyone’s lives? Is that what we really want to look up to?

Granted, there are those famous individuals that do no wrong and actually put a purpose to their money such as donating some of it to a good cause.

But what about the celebrities that just waste their “earnings” on the drugs or alcohol that gets them into trouble in the end?

These people are supposed to be icons that the next generation can look up to.

Young children and teenagers should have someone to admire, someone that is making a difference in the world so that they can follow that lead.

Parents want the best for their children, they don’t want them getting hauled away every month to jail or rehab.

This is where the topic of celebrities going to jail for 20 minutes comes into play.

There is a possibility that DUI and other crime rates might not go down, but rise greatly, if the justice system keeps handing over get-out-of-jail-in-82-minutes cards to these so called “idols” so quickly.

Sure, Nicole Richie is pregnant, but how may other pregnant women are stuck in the jail system? She drove under the influence of alcohol, a crime that could have killed not only her, but innocent bystanders driving on the same road.

Then there is OJ Simpson. One would think that a man who was on trial for murder and then acquitted of all charges would try and stay out of trouble.

Apparently, 13 years is a long enough time to wait until causing some more mischief.

He was arrested this past month for numerous felonies including assault with a deadly weapon, and what does he get?

After being originally held in a cell without bail and no plea entered, he was granted a bail of $125,000 after three days behind bars. When Paris Hilton was released from jail, it seemed as if people were more interested in her wearing the jeans from her “own” clothing line to realize that she had only been in jail for her self proclaimed “traumatic experience” of 23 days.

This wasn’t really served in full, considering she went back and forth from jail to her home while the judge was making up his mind on what to do with her.

She didn’t kill anyone, but tell that to a judge who is sentencing an average Joe to 90 days in jail for barely drinking himself to the legal blood alcohol level. Not to mention the fines tacked on after that first stack of papers are filled out.

It is heard from jail officials that they are afraid they will have a “bad-rep” for keeping a celebrity in jail too long, and they are trying to prevent “crazy media attention”. Now really, are they listening to what they are telling us? It seems a little “off”.

They really should get some things straight, like reading the constitution, or the jail-rule-book, if there is one.

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