The Not So Simple Life: Money and Looks Can Get You Everything — Including Jail Time

 by Allen Mendenhall  

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Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie perpetuate the sad notions that we deserve particular awards or benefits simply by virtue of our parents’ names.

Paris Hilton monopolized entertainment headlines earlier this summer when a judge sentenced her to jail for 45 days.  Hilton was in and out of jail, in and out of court, and in and out of police vehicles throughout the month of June.  This month, she’s expected to be in and out of clothes at least 1,677 times.

Last month, Nicole Richie made headlines after a judge sentenced her to 90 hours of jail time.  Richie is Hilton’s lesser known, socialite co-star on the reality television series The Simple Life; she is the adopted daughter of rock star Lionel Richie.

These privileged celebutantes represent the entitlement society of the Hollywood, Beverly Hills elite:  They drive to work — or rather someone drives them to work — in fancy sports cars, flaunting hair styles so expensive as to upset even presidential hopeful John Edwards.  Which raises a question: drive to what work?

Dipsomaniacal ditzes like Paris and Nicole, who were born unto the rich and famous, perpetuate the sad notions that we deserve particular awards or benefits simply by virtue of our parents’ names (or titles).  Sound a bit 16th century?  Ironically, these same aristocrats espouse quixotic theories of social justice, claiming that the “rich” — among whom they don’t include themselves — continue to exploit the proletariat.  Except they wouldn’t word it in those terms; rather, they’d say, “Um, like, it’s cool and all if you wanna be rich, but poor people live sucky lives.”

Meanwhile, they get richer with every hiccup, and they generate a hierarchical social stratification that is nearly unparalleled since the days of feudalism.  Some blame tax cuts; I blame hiccups.

What I still haven’t figured out is why fans pander to celebrities like Paris and Nicole.  Need I remind the public of the last Paris to exhibit such a wild sense of entitlement?  This fair lad, son of a wealthy king and queen, precipitated the entire Trojan War by abducting a married woman.  His reasoning: she was the most beautiful woman in the world, so she must’ve belonged to him.  If that ain’t entitlement, I don’t know what is.

As someone who considers himself an intelligent, collected person, I’m ashamed to even write about characters like Paris and Nicole.  But I’m worried — worried for our children as they seek role models.  The moral bankruptcy of society’s most public figures doesn’t give children much hope when selecting heroes.  Children rarely find positive role models in Hollywood — is this a decent time to mention Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears?

Children simply have nowhere to turn. 

How about to sports?  Michael Vick recently discredited his exemplar status by dog-fighting and then by pleading not guilty to a seemingly doomed case.  Barry Bonds just passed Hank Aaron’s homerun record, yet clouds of suspicion over steroid enhancements have eclipsed his achievement.  Where should children turn for guidance?  For inspiration?  Where can a kid look for role models when even NASA astronauts blast off into space three-sheets-to-the-wind?

I once heard a commentator call Paris and Nicole “silly space cadets.”  Little did I know he meant that these girls were fully qualified to operate the 160,000 lb, rocket-propelled NASA shuttle that launched the first humans to the moon.

Where will our children turn?  I think it’s worth some time out of our busy day to consider.

Culture: Hollywood, Entertainment

Read more articles by Allen Mendenhall