Schadenfreude and the Joy of Celebrity Downfall

I admit it. I am a celeb-gossipist. I buy STAR when I see a new one on the rack (not every week, mind you), and eat up all the stories. My husband and I laugh at the newest pictures of Linsday Lohan getting caught snorting cocaine on the toilet, and revel at the 'be-haireded' Britney Spears beating a car with an umbrella.

Do I feel sorry for them? Not one bit. Heartless, you say? Not at all. They chose to live a life in the public eye, and, I am sure, have ignored all of the warnings given to them by older stars to 'mind the spotlight'.

I read the magazines, watch the disgustingly spoiled behaviour of these celebutarts partying the night away, and then shake my head when they cry foul after receiving a 45-day jail sentence for DUI. Had that been anyone else, it would have been a lost license, thousands of dollars in fines, and the public shame of bumming rides or taking the bus.

Jealousy, you ask? Not likely. My husband is, in fact, endeavouring to enter the entertainment industry, albeit in a back-office role of animator. We have both agreed that Hollywood and 'the air down there' changes people from a normal, law-abiding, logic-using person into one who suddenly cares about whether or not their mystic tan is as dark as Paris Hilton's. Since when did having ONLY one million in the bank make you poor?

Pity? No. Jealousy? No. Schadenfreude? ABSOLUTELY.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Pitt.
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