Let her rest in peace

Anyone else tired of the whole Anna Nicole Smith fiasco? I don't understand why people were interested in her when she was alive, except that she was a walking train wreck. I certainly don't understand why people are so interested in her now that she's dead, except perhaps that she's somehow become a bigger train wreck now. The whole thing is ridiculous.

Smith, or whatever her name really is, is perhaps the greatest example of a media-created phenomenon that feeds on society's seemingly endless need for a modern version of the old-fashioned sideshow attraction. But why do we need that? Why are we obsessed with these freak shows like Smith and the newly coiffed Britney Spears and her rich gal pals? Why do we care? Frankly, I for one do not. But I do find myself at times feeding at the trough of tabloid trash like some sort of swine, if only to thank my lucky stars I don't have that kind of life.

It just goes to show money can't buy you happiness, and it certainly can't buy you peace. Imagine having every move of your very shallow life mercilessly hounded by a horde of reporters and photographers. There's no surprise people like that go nuts and even died early. It might be the only way they think they can rest. Of course, the court hearings about Smith's body and who gets her daughter are proving that's not even necessarily the case.

We have no one but ourselves to blame for what's filling way too much of our airwaves and bandwidth. And there's really only one thing to do: Stop buying the needless hype. Years ago I got so tired of stories about JonBenet Ramsey that I started changing the channel every time a story about her came on. Maybe we need to do that more. If not, we'll never to be able to get away from the digusting voyeurism to which we've become so accustomed.