Ah, fame, infamy, it’s all about the pretty pictures 
Should I be amazed at the more than 1,900 stories on Google News this morning on the relationship between actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes? Should I care about the 16-year age difference between the reportedly happy couple? Should I care that Katie is allegedly “saving herself” for marriage? Well, if you picked “no” as the answer to all the above, give yourself a prize. I don’t care what kind of prize.
Celebrity or, our fascination with it, is nothing new in this culture. But also our society has the tendency to revel when the mighty (or the famous or the mighty famous)fall (left top in above collage, Tawny Kitean mugshot, left bottom, Yasmine Bleeth mugshot). The same if the infamous who have already made a name for themselves at the bottom of our culture’s pile (top right, Unibomber Ted Kaczynski, bottom right, alleged “Chili finger woman” Anna Ayala, plunge over the edge.
So I am not amazed that Tom and Katie are such a big story. I just know how much larger the story will be if they get arrested for bitch slapping each other in public or if they are caught after pulling off a sudden diamond heist at Tiffany’s. I guess we are sick puppies by celebrating the misfortune of others, most notably if they are famous. Like Pogo once said: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”