This semester, we have learned a great deal about popular culture in the United States. However, have we thought about the people who are actually reporting a great deal of this popular culture to us? One person who has become famous based solely on the delivery of this news, is Perez Hilton. He has simply created a blog, not too different from the one we are using, to introduce his witty ideas and comments to everyone via the internet. So does he relate to the same people he is reporting about? I mean…he is in the news himself. Think about when he disagreed with the beauty pageant contestant on the topic of same sex marriage. He was all over the news just like every other celebrity. He also makes small guest appearances on shows on MTV. So why are we interested in this guy anyway? Well, we have learned through our reading that there could be many reasons but I think that the main reason is that we are very familiar with his opinions and ideas. We understand Perez Hilton and we feel like we know him. I think he also has a very large fan base of people who agree with gay marriage. Just like we read through several different articles, scandals, such as the one Perez had with the beauty contestant, broaden fan base and often strengthen the fan base they already have. I think this is definitely the case here. Due to the digital divide, Perez only had a fan base of people who used the internet. However, now that he is on T.V. he has a fan base that includes people of all ages, and sexes. At the same time, I think that even people that do not like Perez Hilton due to his beliefs or comments look at his website. Even right on his blog, it says, “Welcome to PerezHilton.com - Hollywood's Most-Hated Web Site!” He is aware that people dislike him and he seems to feed off of it. Do you think this draws more people to his website? I do, and I think this is a perfect example of the types of scandals that increase fan base like we have been reading about throughout this course.
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