Reality Bites By James Norton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

(Editor’s note: three weeks in a row I wrote about my personal life in detail, so I figured I would look at some old columns of mine and I liked the manic qualities of this one – I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it – JN)

Maybe I’m getting older, who knows. I seem to be evolving into a very opinionated person, while at the same time, trying to stay open minded about an array of important issues. An interesting conundrum. I want to be informed, but I don’t want to know too much, nor do I want to hear about it all the time.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now Рthere’s overexposure all around us – in professional sports, the entertainment industry, politics – even not-so-newsworthy stories can transform themselves into something bigger than they need to be. Perfect example of overexposure transforming a nobody into a somebody: Paris Hilton.

I used to have to sit down in front of the TV at 6:00 PM and watch the nightly news to find out what’s going on in local news. Now I get news flashes on my cell phone.

Why would anyone anywhere think that it’s really that important for me to know right now what Curt Schilling said about Jason Giambi word for word last night at the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Party while I’m driving in the car today?

No wonder I only listen to XM Satellite Radio in my car. 

The nightly local news is so sensational and so predictable – night after night it’s the same old crap. Start with the obligatory necrologic synopsis of the War in Iraq, then move right into the Scott Peterson trial, the upcoming Michael Jackson trial, Hank Phillipi Ryan with her 55th story of “Error at the Register”, Todd Gross with today’s “perfect storm”, Janet Wu with a breast cancer bit and then hopefully Wendy Nix is sitting in for Joe Amorosino – she’s so much better looking.

Now you can tell two things about that last rant of mine – first, I watch 7 News and second, the only two things in a 35 minute broadcast these days which have to do with local news are the weather and sports. Thanks for nothing Randy and Caterina.

Talk about recent issues being overblown out of proportion Рa national outcry over Janet Jackson’s semi-exposed breast, the uproarious controversy over Ron Artest punching a fan or two in the face and total shock and amazement that Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds used steroids – this is news? How do these thing affect my everyday life?

I can sum up my personal opinions about all three of these issues very quickly, in case you were wondering – here goes – 1. nice to see a real breast on TV for a change, 2. good for Ron for defending himself and 3. I’m not surprised – happy raisin prostate when you reach 55 Jason and Barry. That was easy and I don’t need to go over it 20 times for you to get it, right?

I guess what I am trying to get at is that we are a people tend to gravitate toward the sensational rather than the practical. Hey I’m not the most practical person on the planet, but just because Sarah Jessica Parker and JC Chasez from N’Snyc are in a Gap commercial together, doesn’t mean I’m going to run right out and buy a striped merino wool scarf, which is machine washable and one size fits all. Ooops – I blew that present.

When did reality series shows on cable turn into multi-platform product lines?

American Chopper, the Game and Orange County Choppers Cologne? Are these guys serious? I won’t be watching that show anymore – I can promise that.

Hey ‚Äì there‚Äôs no more hockey ‚Äì did anyone even notice?  No ‚Äì we were much more concerned with other things that are happening right NOW.

The flip side to all this exposure is you and me – the consumers – who rabidly purchase anything and everything we can that has been endorsed by this person or that group. The harsh reality for when things go wrong is that you can’t blame the overexposed entity over the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder suffering consumer and vice versa.

Maybe we can blame the conduit ‚Äì the media ‚Äì for bombarding us with everything we never wanted to know about this and that. The media has concocted a great conspiracy ‚Äì oh wait a minute – this column appears in the media. Okay, forget that last statement please.  Have a great week.