All the love and all the lights...

It's the time of year when the red carpet is unrolled for the Golden Globes, the MTV Awards, the Grammys and the Oscars. It's the time of year when all the stars arrive in limos and saunter down the rosy path, tossing their heads, laughing at secrets and acting as joyous and carefree as they can. It's the time of year when I'm nauseated.

It's the time of year when I ask myself 'What's wrong with us as a species?' Seriously. Why do we give awards to people for being beautiful? Some of them are legitimately talented and get nominations, but they rarely win. Why do we give the people that publicisits and magazines tell us are beautiful so much sway over what we wear and what we eat and what we believe? We're no better than the religious cults we mock and fear on the six o'clock news. And why do we give so little currency to people who aren't conventionally beautiful? Isn't their work worth just as much? I have no idea what Joseph Heller or J.D. Salinger look like, but their words have influenced my life more than Leo Dicaprio's moody and brooding portrayal of every character he gets his mitts on.

I'm not innocent in this. I envy those people and their clothes and the ease of their lives. And I'm madly in love with Heidi Klum and Natalie Portman. At least, I'm in love with what they appear to be. I don't know how to fix the problem. I mean, how do you cure the plague? Particularly if you're not a doctor. I suppose all I can do is spread awareness. Hold up the mirror to society and say 'It doesn't matter if you don't think you're beautiful. Make your work beautiful and the rest doesn't matter.' I realize the hypocrisy in wanting fame to tell people you don't need to be famous, rich and beautiful to make a difference. But if a hundred people call me a hypocrite and i give comfort and/or awareness to another hundred, that's a trade I'm willing to make.