Can We Have A New Relationship With Celebrities?

Whitney Houston 1963-2012

In the wake of the passing of one of the best vocalists of all time, I've made a decision.

I want us all to have new relationship with celebrities.

It came to me in my quest to learn the details surrounding the death of Whitney Houston. As I surfed channel after channel looking for answers, I was repulsed by the tone of the coverage. Tired of countless photos and video footage of her with her ex-husband Bobby Brown at her worst. Indignant over the constant references to quite possibly the worst time of her life.

Not that I ignored all that when it was going on...  I saw it and it broke my heart then. But I never indulged and watched. I think I saw half of one episode of Bravo's Being Bobby Brown. Do you wanna know why?

I was (am) a fan of Whitney Houston and admired her talent and gifts.

Plain and simple.

Never had an appetite to watch her struggle. It never gave me any pleasure to see coverage of what everyone is now calling "bizarre behavior." I refused to buy a People magazine with a disheveled picture of Whitney on the cover. I long ago tuned out whenever negative coverage of any celebrity is pushed and pushed.

What is it about us, society, that enjoys watching another human struggle? Suffer? Especially if that human has lots of money.

We all make mistakes. We all have our vices. We all have profound flaws in our character.

I am grateful I don't have to live mine out in front of the whole world. I'm also gracious enough not to judge others for the worst thing they ever did in their life. Over and over again.

We can stop this madness. We can vote with our remotes and stop supporting programming that takes advantage of the worst of the people we claim to love. We can stop buying the magazines. The paparazzi exists because of our collective demand.

After the 1997 death of Princess Diana, I opted out of madness. And it is 100 times worse now with all the new media.

We can demand a new relationship with celebrities.

Will anyone join me?