Why???

Articles

Why???

By Meri Ulrich
Feb. 14, 2007

I have received email from a few people asking me why I write about celebrities and why I once wrote about the Holloway case. There is a simple answer but it doesn't begin to explain my real purpose in choosing the subjects that I write about on here.

Perhaps the easiest answer is in regards to Natalee Holloway. I believe in justice and she didn't get any in my opinion so I wrote about her disappearance in the hopes that somewhere along the way I might better understand why people have behaved as they have regarding her. I never found the answers that I sought.

In regards to other celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Anna Nicole Smith, the answer is far more complicated and all I can say is that I have a deep curiosity as to what makes people do what they do. I probably share a common trait with both of these women and that is insecurity.

I have not lived the same life that they have lived and have no desire to emulate them but I do want to know why our society is so fascinated by them.

Some say that it is a waste of our time to read or write about celebrities but the public interest out-weighs that simple dismissal of who they are and why we want to know more about them. Hundreds of articles are being published every single day about these two women and the public can't seem to get enough about what drives them and makes them who they are. The media is in over-drive concerning Smith because their audience wants and needs to know more. They don't cover anything that will not drive their ratings so we know that there is a desire for news on a constant basis.

I am a people watcher and always have been. My career paths drove me to work closely with people and I have always wanted to understand the human psyche. Maybe it's a desire to know more about myself or a combination of that and a fascination to understand that thing inside us that drives us to succeed and be recognized or to fail and be scrutinized for it.

I won't dismiss morbid curiosity because that would have to be a component in my desire to read and learn about people like Smith who was so horribly self-destructive.

I thought that I could study my husband as he made his journey through life having Alzheimer's disease but that didn't work out. It was far to close and far to painful to view him as just another human being who's ability to function changed and morphed into someone that I didn't recognize and still can't understand no matter how hard I try.

I also think about how I function and why I do what I do and no flashes of intuition have come to me so I just keep on watching people and trying to understand.

If you believe, as some do, that I am just a trite person with no purpose who simply writes about pseudo-celebrities or the rich and famous, you would be wrong. ALL people fascinate me and I have been watching them for as long as I can remember. I learn from this process and I believe that it makes me better able to cope with the life that I have been dealt.

I see a lot of sadness in our desire to know about what made Anna destroy herself and I also see a lot of healthy curiosity that can be channeled into life lessons for ourselves.

It is too bad that sometimes we have to learn from watching other's come apart but I keep thinking of a line from "Six Feet Under" when someone asks one of the characters about why we have to die. His reply was "Because it makes life beautiful."

Maybe by reading about and watching other people we can learn what makes life important and why we have an obligation to live it as fully as we can.

I doubt that I will ever have the answers that I personally seek but I will keep on watching and learning and I will keep on writing.

As someone who has the desire to speak out and express myself as to my thoughts and opinions I accept that I will have to deal with criticism and differing opinions. That too is what makes life beautiful and more interesting That too is part of the learning process.

------------

About the author: Meri has a Medical/Legal background and is a former forensic researcher specializing in psychological profiling.

https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=27335

Email: writers2@cox.net

Comment on this article here!

------------

All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal).