i call bullshit.

You know what i hate? Advertising.
i hate ads that insult my intelligence. i hate dumbed-down language and i hate how there are ten million prescription drug ads everywhere these days. i hate commercials that yell at me. You know what? If you have to resort to screaming in order to hawk your product/program/New Wonderful Invention, it's probably not that important, which is why you felt you needed the gratuitous volume. Also, i hate ads that tell me, directly, to do something: "You have thousands of pores on your face. Make them look smaller."
Huh?
...No! Don't tell me what to do! Are we children? Do we need these unattached voices telling us how they think we should be living our lives? Do we need to have 50 choices when presented with the relatively simple task of purchasing a toothbrush?

But the worst thing of all, in a way: the celebrity sell-outs. In high school i started to notice this phenomenon, maybe because that's when you're really trying to suss yourself out, and you project yourself onto someone else; an ideal, an idol. Like having a dress you made simply by looking at a mannequin, and it never quite fits when you actually put it on. But you admire them, anyway, for the inspiration they gave.
So when these people, these people that you admire for their singing skills/acting talent/physical beauty/uniqueness in a craft, begin showing up and speaking force-fed lines about products and services that you feel you are way ahead of, it's a huge let-down. I'm talking to you, Kate Winslet, Robert fucking DeNiro. What are you people doing? Don't advocate credit card use! People in this country are ridiculously in debt as it is! And Kate, well- you're almost worse, because it's the young girls that look up to you, isn't it. People who have no conception of credit, let alone budgets or interest rates or bounced checks or collections offices.

Nat knows all about how i feel with regards to this issue, and his answer has always been, "but they are actors. They pretend as a career; they are acting in these commercials as well. What's the difference?" and the difference is: In a film, they are sort of asking you to suspend belief. You know it's surface, shallow, and fake, in a way (unless of course, they achieve the rare feat of truly losing themselves in their character, in which case- huzzah!). But when that same hollowness comes across when they are portraying themselves, that's when the truth prickles. They are doing it for money, people. Nothing more. And one could argue that they are simply acting for money, as well- it is their job. It is how they make a living. But there is absolutely no meaning or culture or history or stimulation in standing in as a prop for a campaign to sell deodorant, or credit cards, or soft drinks, or any of the other myriad useless bric-a-brac with which we are constantly being bombarded in order to live what we are told is a truly "fulfilling" life. So to the celebrities, i say:

Stop being a part of the demand. Without Demand, there would no more goddamn Supply, don't you get that?!?

Thank you.

p.s.) Obviously, i have no problem with celebrity being used for good, such as soliciting for charities and the like. It's still mildly depressing, that it has to come to that level, but at least it is easier to believe that it is something that they actually care about, not to mention that it may even do the world some good, somehow.