I perused the magazines in the newsagent. All of the mid-to down-market and many of the glam women's titles featured on their front pages stories of extreme weight-loss - 'I went from Size 28 to Size 12' 'Lose 7 lbs in a week'. Prominent on many covers, especially of the celebrity magazines, were Jordan, Kerry, Jade and such people. Magazine editors know what sells. One can only assume that these are the pitches that guarantee sales.
I'm not making out that I'm better than the average drone; I am, however, fascinated by the interplay between the mass media and the masses.
Reading about people's lives is fascinating. I have so many biographies on my bookshelves, and, heck, blogging is a lot about reading about other people's lives. Over the years, I have lost count of the times I have bought a newspaper or magazine solely because someone I like is featured, in an interview, or an in-depth report, or a photo-shoot. But I do like to think I am discriminating. That I'm actually interested in the person because of their sporting/acting/singing/politicking skills. Or at the very least, because they are a hunk that I fancy. I wouldn't buy a magazine because it featured JordanJadeKerry because they have nothing to say. Or perhaps I am merely guilty of arrogant conceit.
It's tempting to conclude that there is a big conspiracy going on to brainwash the plebs so that they don't dare think about the issues that matter, and hold nobody accountable. But there is no evidence that it's an organised conspiracy. These magazines exist solely to make money; they make money from advertising revenues, which, I assume increase in line with readership figures. Advertising must increase sales - otherwise it wouldn't happen.
Advertising is not all about brainwashing. Assuming we accept a society where the buying of goods and services is fairly fundamental to our lives (and I accept I willingly partake in that society), it is helpful to have information about the goods and services. Fortunately, I have the ability, education and training to filter much of that information. I just wonder whether people who are buying into the "Lose 5 stone and be JordanJadeKerry" are as gullible in the way that they process advertising.
Or perhaps I am being unduly condescending. Perhaps the majority of people who read about JordanJadeKerry are capable of being sceptical, treat the whole charade as a meaningless circus, giggle at the superficiality of these ciphers, and give thanks for their reasonably comfortable, reasonably simple, reasonably happy lives of ordinariness, fulfillment and joy.
What is actually far more disturbing, especially in my own reaction, is headline "I was raped by my own son". What part of my brain filtered that as something that would be interesting to read? Fortunately, a split second later I felt a revulsion at myself. And yet, the magazine editors know what sells.
Probably, I am not alone in being luridly drawn to and simultaneously repulsed by a story designed to horrify and titllate in equal measure. I suspect that the inclusion of that story - as well as the 'I kept my rapist's baby'; 'I was the next victim of the Camden ripper' stories - illuminates our society more clearly than any number of 'I became a size 8 JordanJadeKerry'.
