Wednesday 11 April 2012

Trashy Magazines - On My Soapbox

This post comes with the following warning:

Should you not wish to be subjected to a fully flung rant that may or may not contain bad language you should close your browser page now.  The following thoughts are mine and mine alone and I do not claim to have investigated them so do not read them as fact.

Over the Easter weekend we had friends and family come to stay and at the end of the weekend I was left a trashy woman's magazine by a friend who is possibly reading this so first of all let me made a few comments.
I respect each and every persons right to read what they want, and if trashy mags are your thing no worries.  I do not expect that everyone else out their shares my taste in reading material so who am I to judge.  These are my thoughts on the matter and mine alone.

Not being one who buys magazines about anything other than gardening, food, home and lifestyle, my flick through the pages of the TM (Trashy Magazine) left me with the urge to shake some one.

Number one I have no idea who most of these people are.  But apparently some are too fat, some are too thin, some one is dating some one after being friends for a long time (oh no how shocking, surely you can't be friends first - can you hear my sarcasm).
There are tears, tantrums and finger pointing, and that is from the adults.  Then there are the kids who also have to put up with having crap written about them and getting dragged into the media.  And yes I mean absolute rubbish.
Take this story for example.  It comes with a picture of Cindy Crawford carrying a brown paper bag and her daughter Kaia carrying what appears to be a foil food container both dressed casually.  The story goes on to say how Cindy is jealous of her daughter "although Cindy is proud of her daughter she admits to feeling a bit envious of her youthful good looks.  She still looks great but  it must be hard for knowing that her best years are behind her and her daughters are yet to come".
Are you freaking kidding me!!!!  Who makes up this Sh*t.

Then there is an article about how LeAnn Rimes has not only run off with the husband, but is now wearing the same perfume that the ex-wife wears.  What the???
Is this really considered news?  Is this type of sh*t really selling magazines?  What a waste of money and resources to produce a magazine that is not worth using a loo paper.

Not only are these magazines full to overflowing with made up garbage about people who are famous for being famous, but they are also responsible for feeding the readers a load of rubbish about what they should look like, what they should wear and the possessions they should aspire to owning.  They make money by making the mundane out to be something worth reading about, not to mention most of it is lies.  "Brad and Ange Splitting Up!"  Brad and Ange Getting Married"  "Brad Moving Out" Ange Pregnant Again".  Give me a break.

And my biggest gripe is that all of this is made out to be some kind worthy news like it rates a mention.  Surely if we must have stories about celebrities we can find something positive to write about.  There must be good news stories out there where people are making positive choices where they lead by example and inspire others to do the same.  Would this not leave us all feeling better about ourselves because we had positive celebrity role models?  Let's spread that message instead.
As it stands any positive feeling that we garner from these magazines is because we are relishing in how terrible their lives are, the problems that they have, how badly they have messed up and thank goodness too because it now we feel better about our selves.
A bit sad really.

If you are still with me here, thanks for putting up with me, if not well I understand.  But what I would like to say is this.  We all have the choice as adults to choose what magazines we read and we are mature enough to see things for what they are, but if you have children just think about the type of role models you are setting out on display on the coffee table.

15 comments:

  1. Hate them...dont buy them, I cringe ever time I see the New Idea or Womans Day on the newstand...its all crap....and really who cares...but when it comes down to it Fiona, its the consumer...same as all the other 'crap' that is for sale, if someone buys it, they will keep making it.....and selling it....we as the consumers have the choice as to what will be on the shelves, but people just dont get it.....the world just dosnt get it..... :(

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    1. I agree Suzanne the world just does not get it, well clearly some of us do. And you are right it is all about consumers.

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  2. Can´t stand them either. Waste of perfectly good paper and useless as fire starters. I don´t give a fig about most people, and care even less for those who appear in crapola magazines. Even newspapers lost me years ago. Trashy-mags never stood a chance.

    Excellent rant, Fiona!

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  3. I totally agree. It is also the reason I don't watch much tv. Most of it is just crap now.

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  4. Agreed. We only buy gardening and farming mags too, but occasionally pick up a TM in a waiting room and wonder who pays to read such rubbish!

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  5. I read them at work, in the tea room. It's like an accident, I don't want to look, but I do. It's all crap, and I agree, such a waste of resources and such a bad example. Obsession with celebrities is a sign of the times, that some humans (those in 'developed countries') have it too good. We have so much time on our hands (as someone else grows the food, someone else makes the clothes, someone else does the dirty work) that we needed to find something to do... we came up with fashion, celebrities, reality TV. *sigh* I know I am far from perfect, and I tell you why I still seem to pick up & flick through those magazines in my tea break... as an RN in Recovery, I am bombarded by reality every shift, by the horrid & sad things that happen to innocent people, and sometimes I just want some fantasy escapism from the real world. I can see why people watch movies, read books and daydream... it's just sad that all that energy & time could be put into making the world a better place.

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    1. Dixiebelle you are so right. We are so wealthy that we can waste money of the most crazy of things. My mum is a theatre nurse so I know what you mean about needing to escape. The funny thing is that if a gardening, organic or food mag was left in the lunch room it would be gone in a flash, it is only the ones that hold no vale to people that get left behind.

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    2. Yes, so true, I used to get G magazine back when were first becoming more 'eco-friendly' and gained quite a collection over a year or two, so I took several copies to work and they disappeared!! I guess I should be happy they appealed to someone so much, but I was sort of hoping to spread the word and break up the trasy magazine collection a little!!

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  6. TM's make me sick to the stomach! I sometimes glance at them in doctors waiting rooms or local coffee shops and am disgusted with what is considered newsworthy. Like yourself, I can't believe people buy this rubbish week after week, month after month!

    What did make my day however, was today while in a nearby town walking through a newsagent to get to the other side of the street, one thing caught my eye..Gardening Australia. Or rather the empty slot with a sign showing the cover of GA. With Costa as this month's feature. Sold out! Bugger it, I would've bought a copy..but still...Go Costa!! Some people out there still seem to have a clue!! ;)

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    1. Chrisitne I know what you mean there has been a lot of talk about Costa coming on board.

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  7. Yep agreed, i think its incredibly sad that so many people take so much enjoyment out of people lives being picked apart and thier every body part analysed and criticised. I feel really sorry for most celebrities. Let them live thier lives like other people do.

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    1. I agree Racheal every one has the right their privacy. Some big celebrities manage to stay right out of the media which makes me think that others like the Kardashians make every effort to stay in it.

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  8. Ditto with TV shows Fiona. I read the other day they are axing Gardening Australia while the reality tv shows continue to gain in popularity. Grrr!!!

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  9. This is why I read blogs and not magazines. : )

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