The Fabulous Life Of...

For one reason or another, I feel like American society really has a fixation on wealth and the lives of rich people. In class we read the poem "Graceland" by Carl Sandburg that highlighted the grave of "a millionaire, a multi-millionaire, ladies and gentlemen", advertising it as if it were some fascinating show. Although I can't say I've ever been compelled to visit someone's burial place simply because they were rich, I have to admit that from time to time-I have done what I consider to be the modern day equivalent: watch "The Fabulous Life Of...". Just in case you're unfamiliar with it, it's basically a show that just talks about rich people and the ridiculous things they spend money on. It's not alone in it's kind either-MTV and VH1 feature several shows centered around this same concept, for example "Cribs", a show that explores the fabulous homes of celebrities, and "My Super Sweet Sixteen", a television show that shows the planning and execution behind birthday parties costing tens of thousands of dollars.

It really makes me wonder, why are we, as a society, so fascinated by the lives of rich people? Society glorifies wealth so much-they have sections of magazines dedicated to showing how celebrities are "just like us" because they eat french fries or walk their dogs. The fact that they have those sections means that many people don't think of celebrities as being regular people, that somehow with their aquired wealth they've become more important then the average person. In the second part of the poem I mentioned earlier, "Graceland", it talks about a working girl and other poorer people. The entire section in parentheses, as if to signify that the whole second part is just an after thought-that the people it talks about are less important then the dead millionaire talked about in the first part. It was true then and it's true now, but why? Why is it that rich people are so glorified and does that tell us something deeper about our American society?