Famous for....what??

I think this post might go under "rant" for the week. So, here it goes.
I have a feeling that the United States is going through an epidemic lately of making people famous for pretty much nothing. Famous means "to have a widespread reputation, usually of a favorable nature." Well...going by the definition, people should be famous for good things, not embarrasing or bad things.

The thing that spurred me to type this was when I was walking through the mall for the first time in forever and saw a huge promotion for those Skechers "firming" shoes. The person endorsing it was Kim Kardashian and her mother. If memory serves me, she is known for making a sex tape with her boyfriend, and then it got released into the world wide web. I don't know if this falls under "favorable nature". Do little girls know this when they see that picture, or do they just assume she is a pretty girl? Another thing that irked me was a line of Paris Hilton perfume. She as well has made a sex video, but she also did the reality stuff as well. Was it nice reality TV she participated in? No...the premise was the little rich girl getting thrown in to country life. I think she made fun of anyone who shopped at Wal-Mart, and thought regular blue-collar jobs were deplorable. Then, she went on to a show where she had contestants try and become her best friend. I never watched that show in its entirity, but she made those people do some pretty embarrasing things to become her best friend.

Everyone on MTV is famous now-a-days for just acting totally ridiculous.
When was the last time "The Real World" was actually real? I don't know about you, but I didn't live in a 6 bedroom house with pool/jacuzzi/pool table in college. They also don't work (or work hard), and seem to get drunk/have fights/have sex with strangers every night. I guess Jersey Shore falls under this category as well. Greg will tell you though that I have been caught watching Jersey Shore. Not for its deep philosophical content, but for me bearing the question,"is this really being aired on TV?" or "don't they know they are being filmed, why are they doing that?" Almost like a train wreck...you want to look away, but you can't.

One more thing that bothers me...16 and Pregnant. One part of me applauds these girls for trying to raise these children and finish school. The other part of me asks,"why do these girls always have their nails done/hair professionally done? How do you afford this?" It's reported that these girls get tons of $$ to be put on TV. I don't know if that's a blessing in disguise for them, or rewarding bad behavior. Should they be famous for this and be thrown on to covers of magazines? My gut says "no".

Why do we throw these people in to the famous category??
Shouldn't we focus on women who are smart, funny and are doing a positive change in the world? I guess that's not entertainment.

The thing that bothers me the most is who Mallory will look up to in another 12 or 14 years. I don't want her to be sheltered fully, but I definitely don't want her watching this stuff and think it's normal or ok.
I will have to do a better job of introducing her to men and women who do great things in the community and have a heart of gold. They may not have their own TV show, or receive endorsments and tons of money, but I want these kinds of people to be famous in her mind.