The One Where No One Has Talent Anymore

D and I have had this conversation before, about how sad it is that in order to be famous in America, you don't actually have to have an ounce of talent. Today, Karen and I were also discussing it, thanks to an eBay link she sent me, coming from a person formerly featured on MTV's "16 and Pregnant." She's selling her prom dress and at. . .press time? The bidding was up to $5,600.00.

What I've deduced, is that, to be "famous" and a "celebrity," you need to be willing to get on TV and show that you truly have no shame. None.

TV used to be entertaining because it was funny, not because you got to see what people are willing to do for fame. Back in the day (you know, until the late 90's, early 2000's), there was legit comedy on TV. You did have things like The Real World, but in its early stages, it was interesting. It was interaction between people who probably wouldn't have ever been in the same house with each other otherwise. Now, it's all about casting people who will most definitely have conflict with each other. The virgin and the man whore. The gun-toting, homophobic, hog-wrangling Southerner and the drag queen from Los Angeles. The white supremacist and the former Black Panther. Me and Matthew McConaughey.

Then there was season 1 through 3 or so of America's Next Top Model. Season 1 (which, yes, I own on DVD) was legitimately about these girls who thought they had a shot at worldwide fame as a supermodel. This was before Tyra Banks turned her own show into a giant joke. The producers of this one also use the same tactics with casting.

"Hey, Kevin," one bigwig will say to the other, "it's time to get it down to the final 20."

"OK, Lou," says Kevin. "We have here many attractive people. . .and also an 'interesting-looking' lesbian and a 'plus-sized' model who says she slaps lesbians for a living."

"Those last two sound real swell," says Lou. "Make sure they're in."

It has nothing to do with anything except making sure there is some kind of conflict, and that contestants have seen previous seasons so they know how to play the game.

And then that brings me to 16 and Pregnant. My question is, when did it become AWESOME to be pregnant in high school? I mean, I know stuff happens. (Not to me, obviously. I wasn't cool enough to be having sex in high school.) But it does happen. Accidents and all that. But didn't it used to be that it was. . .a bad thing? Like, vaguely shameful?

Maybe I'm all old-fashioned and I just don't get Kids These Days. But while I'm not necessarily of the "Wait until you get married to have sex or you are going to Hell," line of thinking, I DO think that maybe possibly high school isn't the best time to be doing something like that that could result in a PERSON, especially if you're not going to be careful about it.

All I'm saying is that I don't think it's fair that this chick not only got paid to be in 16 and Pregnant, and that getting knocked up is why she's pseudo-famous, but that now she's selling her maternity prom dress (three words that SHOULD NOT GO TOGETHER) for probably about $5,500 more than she paid for it, just because she was on TV with her pregnancy.

And don't even get me started on Justin Bieber. He's an entire other post for an entire other day.

My roundabout point is that I don't feel like people (I'm looking at YOU, Heidi Montag) should be famous for being famous. I'd like to get back to the days of actual talent being on TV, rather than just self-deserving douchebags. (Hi, Spencer Pratt.)