Celebrities selling pictures of their babies to People Magazine

Is it a do? Or a don't? This might also be a good place to talk about magazines like People and Us and all that crap. Why do people read this stuff? Why do people care what Christina Aguilera's 1 month old baby looks like? Why was she able to sell the pictures for (I'm guessing here) a million bucks or more? Why do people care about what celebrities do in their free time?

Way way off topic but why did People choose a happy picture of Michelle (Williams?) for their 'Michelle's Last Goodbye' tag??

Wow, yeah, that is really weird.

Haha, that is strangely the first thing I actually looked at. Probably because my name was in big letters on a popular publication.

Why do people read this stuff? Why do people care what Christina Aguilera's 1 month old baby looks like?

If there's demand then there's supply. Aren't you the one who keeps pointing out that it doesn't matter what pop culture commodity people consume as long as they enjoy it?

Well, I would definitely make that argument about people listening to Christina Aguilera's music, but not her personal life.

I find it interesting that people feel like they have the rights to people's personal lives just because they are famous. Perhaps the best recent example is Heath Ledger's death, and how people were actually pissed that Heath's parents didn't want to make a statement on the day that it happened.

Once again, I'm not saying whether this is completely right or completely wrong. But I was posing the question. It does seem like a certain line is crossed when we feel like celebrities owe us the details of their personal lives.

I, for one, was pissed off when I found out he died. He didn't have my permission to do that! I am expecting an apology form his parents.

People are social creatures, it's part of the human condition to be nosy and gossipy. That's the American Way, with a capital W.

Anyway celebrities are selling pictures of their babies to tabloid and gossip mags so they won't have to deal with the stalkerazzi. I suppose it's the lesser of two evils to have your private, intimate life celluloided in a safe, professional photo studio than having it out there in the ether because some amoral creep was digging through your garbage or sneaking into your house and taking pictures through the window.

I think it has to do more with the fact that celebrities are our royalty. As our kings and queens, we feel like their personal life is ours in addition to any "art" they create for public consumption. And we'll do anything to knock them down a peg or to prove that they're just like us. I think it has less to do with our social selves and more to do with our desire to have as many pieces as possible of that rich and fabulous celebrity pie.

(And P.S. When I say "we" and "our," I am referring to society as a whole and not necessarily every individual within it. I would say America as a whole, but it is a well-known fact that Paparazzi in the UK is about 5,000 times worse than it is over here)

Deliciously good discussion guys. I have often pondered the draw of these magazines, even as i stand in the grocery line and flip through them quickly for a fix of my own. I'm a sucker for all things Prince William. Why? Just cuz he's a hottie? I don't know. It's perplexing and disarming (deeply disturbing?), but there it is.

I love to see that another alien has abducted another redneck. Why the hell do these aliens abduct the most backwoods people? I think if they stayed on the highways and went into the cities they would find MORE than enough people willing to be probed just to say that they have. I mean, top that. Right?