Why I Won't Indulge In The Media's Obsession With Celebrities' Lives

Starlet Loses Control Behind The Wheel!

He Was Caught Cheating!

Look At Her Weight Gain!

Arrested Again!

More frequently than should be acceptable, these are the headlines we see polluting our magazine stands.

They flood our inboxes and appear as ticker tape along the bottom of our screens.

Today’s media has become riddled with scandals (both true and false) and dark moments. These are moments that are better kept private.

Over the last few days, it has become wide spread news that Lamar Odom, separated husband of Khloé Kardashian, was found unconscious in a legal brothel in Nevada with various drugs flowing through his veins.

Members of the Kardashian family have flown to his bedside, and it’s also been said Odom's former teammate, Kobe Bryant, is there as well.

I know this because I received multiple emails with the headlines, and how Kendall tweeted a heartfelt message, and how Kylie had to cut a live stream short when the news reached her.

I know all of this without even having to do any research.

All it took was a click to open my email, and a click to open my Facebook and I was flooded with the news.

I have invaded a very dark and difficult time in a person’s life, without even exerting any effort.

With the help of social media hearing even the slightest hint of news and spreading it like wild fire, the media has created a world where we now have a public viewing of extremely private moments.

When Heath Ledger died, there were camera crews and crowds waiting outside the building waiting to see the body rolled by.

Light bulbs flashed, cameras caught every second of the devastating moments and media outlets ate up the footage.

A person had died of an accidental overdose.

A father, a partner and an actor had an unfortunate accident, and instead of respecting the privacy of his family, they chose to run the photos and video.

Every gruesome detail was reported.

The same happened when Philip Seymour Hoffman sadly overdosed, and when Paul Walker crashed as well.

People sat glued to their screens and tweeted photos.

While I was sad to have lost such incredible actors, that was not my business to be informed of or shown.

But again, the media had no problem invading that privacy.

Americans have a morbid curiosity to see what the final moments were like, and how things play out right after.

It makes me sick to think that this is becoming common practice.

I mean, how would you feel if someone wanted to snap shots of your deceased form, before even members of your family could hear the news?

Yeah, my point exactly.

Even something less difficult to process than death, such as a cheating scandal, isn’t left untouched.

This was the year of the celebrity breakup, and many of our favorite couples parted ways.

Instead of respecting their privacy in the dissolving of their marriages, the media poked and prodded and dreamed up scenarios that could have led to the end.

Do you remember when Kristin Stewart was sleeping with director Rupert Sanders, while he was married and she was dating Robert Pattinson?

I can recall the finer details of that entire scandal that ended not only a relationship, but a marriage as well. The story was everywhere for months.

Every detail was scrutinized, every moment analyzed.

This was none of our business, and it never should have been.

But the media decided to run it over and over again until we felt like it had happened to us.

Those details were none of our business.

I certainly had no business seeing the photos of Rihanna after Chris Brown abused her, but that was put up for public viewing.

No woman wants even her closest circle to know the details of her abusive relationship, so what makes the media think it’s okay for that to be headline news, and put something that private out there?

I wouldn’t want to see my friends get a DUI, so why do I want to see Justin Bieber's?

I wouldn’t want my friends to get caught shoplifting, so why do I need to be told the finer details of real housewife Kim Ricahrds?

I don’t want to see anyone get busted for drugs, cheated on, attacked or dead, so I’m not about to watch a celebrity go through the same.

The media has turned into a circus and believes every celebrity to be their clown.

It believes it's the public's right to know the highs and lows of someone’s life because celebrities chose a career in the spotlight.

But that’s simply not true.

A dark moment should stay shielded by the curtains, and allowed to be dealt with with respect and privacy.

If a person in the media sets up boundaries in their own lives, it should be common practice to set boundaries for what they decide to run a story on.

If something like Lamar Odom’s situation comes to light, they should understand the finer details are none of our business, unless those in his life choose to share it with us.

It seems as if discretion is no longer part of the media’s vocabulary, along with respect and decency.

Social media fuels the fire, and the media continues to pour the gasoline to keep it burning.

I hope one day, we can get back to a time where the biggest scandal isn’t the most important news.

I hope we can understand the idea of boundaries again, and that the media can keep its big, ugly nose out of places it doesn’t belong.