Stupid and Successful: A 21st Century Story.

Great Men have been revered for ages for their great deeds. They were the pinnacle of human greatness and glory and history did not fail to remember them. They were worthy of the fame and fortune they had received. These men and their achievements were immortalized by songs and poems, a great example would be Walt Whitman’s,

“O Captain! My

.

.

.OOOO

OO Captain! “.

In this era of communication one nasty attribute of man is being worshipped. His hamartia of being oblivious and stupid puts him on pedestal as their ability to broadcast twisted thoughts for the world to see and marvel at their absurdity gains them fame, money and popularity.

One recent example is Ms. Danielle Bregoli. She rose to stardom after being interviewed on a reality show. A proud juvenile convict who dropped out of school during the seventh year and is famous for abusing and stealing from her mother. She is the representation of everything that is condemned by society. Yet, she is now a millionaire with a contract for her own reality show and millions of followers on social media. Her famous saying “cash me outside howbow dah” is now going on T-shirts and mugs. Her success can only be paralleled by the Kardashians.

For our next entrée Please welcome the Flat Earth Society. The infamous group who hit the headlines after some celebrities like B.o.B and NBA star Kyrie Irving confessed on social media that they believe in the flat earth theory which states that the earth is a flat disc supported by elephants that wander on the back of a turtle swimming around in space.

They are masked from the truth that lies before them the by their flaw of being oblivious. But this failure of realization does not affect them whatsoever. This blemish makes them more heard, increases their reach and essentially makes them famous.

Another individual who falls in line with this issue is Jaden Smith. From being the greatest childhood actor of his time to deciding to cut his own penis on his 18th birthday, boy wonder has sure been through a lot. His hilarious tweets celebrating deep and profound thoughts like the reasons for human existence, the indefiniteness of human imagination have been the source of mockery and criticism for long.

A surprisingly notable mention is Farah Abraham. After becoming pregnant at sixteen, Farah rose to stardom with a reality show titled ’16 and pregnant’. Consecutively she landed another show in the same genre called ‘Teen Mom’. Her impromptu impregnation landed her with reality show deals and celebrity status for life.

All these examples point towards one conclusion. This phenomena of utterly undeserving internet denizens attaining and achieving celebrity status meant for those of valour, dignity and merit is a disaster to the society.

The reason that motivates an article, a cry for justice lies in the fact that, this issue deprives the well accomplished of the attention and recognition they are due of.

It is saddening to realise that the primary concern of people is to know about Beyonce’s unborn twins but not about the latest scientific and humanitarian progress. Furthermore knowing that the votes cast by such people elect our leaders is truly terrifying.

A solution to this? I’m afraid there is no immediate cure. The predator exists as long as there is prey. The attention hungry will feed on the need for entertainment till there is a need for entertainment.

— This article was written for Festember: The Renaissance by Siddarth