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Should Paris Hilton get one million dollars to tell her jailhouse story on NBC?
Results so far:
| Yes | 12% | 171 votes | Total: 1473 votes | |
| No | 88% | 1302 votes |
Yes
by Carol Gioia
Created on: August 02, 2007 Last Updated: May 04, 2012
Would you or I turn down a million dollars to tell our story? Show us the money!
The Paris Hilton phenomena has peaked the interest and curiosity of the public. A program on any subject regarding Paris Hilton will bring ratings and dollars to the television network. Why would NBC not exploit this opportunity?
A more pertinent question is, why would Paris Hilton allow herself to be exploited in such a fashion? Easy answer; she is an astute business woman, and her main commodity is herself. Most high profile celebrities like to keep their personal life private. In the case of Paris Hilton, her personal life is her celebrity. This American heiress princess and her wild escapades captured the imagination of the masses. The press saw their opportunity to jump on the band wagon and "Paris Hilton World" was created. The pinnacle of success was achieved for both the press and Hilton when the single word "Paris" no longer conjured up an image of a city in France.
If Paris were to tone down and go into hiding, as some of her detractors suggest, she would soon lose her "hot commodity" status. Celebrity attention breeds a craving for more. Eventually the public will wear down and burn out on the subject of Paris, and the press will go frantically in search of another meal ticket. They are already frustrated in their attempts to bring Nichole Richie and Brittany Spears publicity to the level of frenzied excitement and addiction as any tidbit about Paris Hilton will command. One even has to wonder if these other misguided young women are acting out in an effort to garner attention equal to Paris. Is the press and public curiosity breeding a Hollywood youth culture of "Paris wannabees"?
In any event, every individual and every business tries to "make hay while the sun shines" and make the most of it while they are still in their prime, while they still have earning power. Should Paris Hilton be any different? If she can command compensation of a million dollars, it is her right and privilege to do so. Whether she really needs another million, or what she decides to spend it on, is her business.
NBC involvement in this exploitation is another matter. The subject of Paris Hilton's jail time experience is not educational, informative or even high class entertainment. It is on the level of a "Peeping Tom" mentality. Hopefully the viewing ratings will send a message to this giant of the media industry the error of it's ways and there will be an upgrade of future program scheduling.
Shame on you, NBC!
Learn more about this author, Carol Gioia.
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No
by Zack Mandell
Created on: September 27, 2010
The reason one million dollars should not be wasted on Paris Hilton's story is due to the fact her account is insignificant. Her stay in jail was extremely short-lived because of her family's wealth. Of course she received some special treatment while there. Of course she had to be isolated from other inmates for security purposes. Any insight she has to give regarding her experience would not apply to the everyday citizen facing the same scenario. Answering "No" to the central question of this debate is done so from the perspective of an NBC decision-maker. It would not be in their best interest to spend this mound of cash on Paris Hilton giving a brief, ambiguously-answered interview. There are much more serious issues going on in the world that warrant the attention of the news-watching citizens.
Aside from NBC receiving a large number of viewers, the best result that could come out of this would be a few young girls deciding that they do not want to end up in jail. More importantly, such a large sum of money can and should be directed at other important causes. Giving a socialite the space to appear remorseful for all of 10 minutes, while appearing perfect in terms of make-up and clothing, is not worth a million dollars. The worst part: the remorse part of it isn't guaranteed. In 2007 CNN was the first to get an interview with Paris following her short-lived prison stint, which was the result of driving on a suspended license. The heiress told Larry King that she had never used drugs and wasn't a big drinker. She also said that she felt her incarceration was unwarranted. Taking those statements into consideration at the present time, it's laughable Paris would say those things on the air. CNN may have gotten a lot of viewers that night, but these people were probably giving the "yeah, right" look to their screens. The interview wasn't a gem in TV history, to put it lightly.
Sadly, Paris Hilton would not benefit from one million dollars. She is already worth much more than that, and such a large payday would just be an expenditure by NBC in return for viewer volume. If the recipient of the money was going to take the funds to try and turn their life around, more could be said for the "Yes" side of the issue. However, since the person in question is Paris Hilton, it's obvious that a million dollars isn't a lot to her. It might be added to her fashion fund, or if we got lucky, it'd get donated to an animal organization. Unfortunately, the possibility of her donating the money to a charity cannot be used as a valid factor in evaluating, and that takes away from any points allotted to "Yes" answer.
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