Celebrity Semiotic

Today, I propose the immediate ban on any celebrity using a "Baby Wave" -- the slow opening and closing of spread fingers closing into a fist with the palm facing you -- that red carpet fame carpetbaggers like Paris Hilton and Penelope Cruz and many others routinely use instead of a proper, flat-handed, wave that pivots on the wrist from a visible elbow anchored to the side of the body.  In the image below, we have the perfected example of a proper Baby Wave -- from Heath Ledger's daughter Matilda-- and since the Baby Wave is from a celebrity baby, we're fine its flexing and extension.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the government response was slow and inadequate -- as we well know by now. The ensuing celebrity response was amazing. Photographs of Brad Pitt helping out really touched me. There's something about when a celebrity really messes up in the eye of the public and then shortly thereafter does a tremendous act of charity that makes me wonder why said celebrity did it.  Now the suffering in Haiti is in the midst of the celebrity cause.

In the biggest recantation since New Coke and Coke Blak, NBC/Comcast are rumored to be reversing their ridiculous removal of Jay Leno from "The Tonight Show" and pushing Conan O'Brien back into the late night boneyard where he belongs.

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What is it about human beings that cause us to simultaneously seek ways to look up to people while at the same time finding ways to bring those people back down to our own level if we perceive them as getting too high?

Last night Survivor: Samoa wrapped up season 19 of the reality series and, woe to us all, our favorite survivor, Russell Hantz was not voted the winner.  We generally enjoy watching Survivor, but when we spend an entire season rooting for the best player in the history of the game, and then waste three hours watching him lose to pettiness and burnt feelings, we want to turn off the television and never watch the show again.

TLC -- The Learning Channel -- is a strange place to watch stories about American lives.  TLC is infatuated with dysfunctional large families like "Jon and Kate Plus 8," the Disgusting Duggars Family in "18 Kids and Counting" and their now litter of 19 children and, finally, "Table for 12."  We can rightly dismiss TLC's infatuation with big families because they are trying to recreate the fading revenue magic of the Jon and Kate misanthropy; but why is TLC fetishising on Little People?  How many Dwarf shows does one network need?  The answer appears to be:  Three.  The first, and most famous TLC Dwarf show, is "Little People Big World" starring the wacky Roloff family.