Well, in all honesty, because I have a heart. Because I value things like truth, honesty, respect, and society in general.
It’s not often that I let the toxic waste produced by the likes of the Daily Star/Mail etc seep into my consciousness, but quoting and retweeting of articles from these rags have been bringing them to my attention lately. Much to my dismay.
It actually ASTOUNDS me how so much fairytale guff can be printed and that some people a) pay to read it; b) believe it; c) feel fulfilled in a career where they spend their days spreading hurtful lies. Magazine and newspaper journalism is disposable, I’ve always said that; the words that are written one week will be erased by whatever the new ‘hot topic’ is the week after; it’s next weeks chip paper, yadda yadda yadda. But not so much when it’s targeting individual people and their feelings; hurtful comments that may mean nothing to the person spewing them can linger with the person they're aimed at for years. And that’s also true in life in general - but most of us are lucky enough to not have to suffer the embarrassment of having these comments printed nationally.
I used to buy Heat religiously, but it was my New Year’s Resolution this year to give it a rest for a bit. Mainly because I’d had about as much as I could take of “The curvy girls vs. skinny girls debate”; “Celeb beach bods!”; “Circle of shame - SHOCK AT CELEB LOOKING NORMAL”.
This was all going swimmingly, until a certain John James and Josie whipped us all into a frenzy and I, like many, have been buying magazines for the first time in ages to feed my addiction. I’ve been practically rubbing OK! Magazine into my gums. And while we’re on the topic - I do think that, overall, OK!’s treatment of JJJ has been lovely; their interviews are reliable, asking the questions we want to know the answers to but not going over the top, and they’ve treated us to some seriously swoon worthy photos. And our beloved, gorgeous little Layla is most definitely one of the good guys: her OK! blogs always speak sense and are like a voice of reason when the rumour mill is going into overdrive.
But as much as the hopeless romantic heart in me has relished all these gratuitous interviews, my sensible head is pleading with John and Josie to just abandon all media stuff altogether now. At least for a while. It’s getting destructive and, frankly, they’re much too good to be used as a selling tool. The good stuff is always accompanied by a whole heap of crap, and I'm sick and tired of it getting so much attention. "John and Josie have 10 hour marathon romp, John and Josie engaged, Josie's 'sex tape', John and Josie love split"... have whoever writes this shit not got some colouring in they could be getting on with? These newspapers are so ridiculous it verges on hilarity. They're like a spiteful little toddler kicking someone repeatedly for attention; in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if that's who the 'writers' actually are. I could rant about them until I'm blue in the face, but they're really not worth any more of my time and effort - or yours. I'll just continue to ignore.
So no, I won’t be entering the world of gossipy celebrity journalism. I’ll leave that to people who really have the know how and are qualified to judge people they have never even met. Like say, ooo, I dunno… Kimberley Walsh.
Oh and ‘The Sun’? Yeah this ones for you;
“Josie, who was dressed in an unflattering red pleated dress…”
Come back to me when you discover what true beauty is. I’ll give you a clue: you won’t find it on page 3.
