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The cost of fame

The Balloon Boy

By Kirsten Chen

On October 21, 2009

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Who would have thought that the ‘boy in the bubble' could ever be rivaled by the ‘boy in the balloon'? Both have become wonderfully famous stories. In reality, though, (pun-intended) the only commonality between these two stories is their fictitious nature. Last week, the entire nation was captured by the live news broadcast of a 50 mile following of a saucer-like balloon supposedly holding a young boy inside. The Heenes Family, responsible for the conspiracy, actually instructed their son to hide in a cardboard box inside the garage as the search went on. Having appeared on the reality show "Wife Swap," Richard Heenes was an aspiring reality-TV show star who reeled his entire family into his scheme to obtain his own show. Side note: how reality TV makes one ‘star quality,' is up to interpretation. Did he get his 15 minutes of fame? He sure did, and then some. Now he will probably and rightfully be charged with felony charges including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, attempting to influence a public servant, and filing a false police report. Fame is pretty expensive, eh?

Are we really surprised at this behavior, though? Do we not see the connection between where we've put our money and resources and what has emerged? It's the ultimate illustration of how we, as humans, create our own monsters. ABC ironically asked Jon Gosselin, previous star of "Jon & Kate plus 8" what he thought about the balloon incident. As if Jon Gosselin, who is now divorced and watching his family publicly paraded as a tragic mess, would be the moral compass for families in reality-TV predicaments. Let's add in even more reality TV news links from earlier this year. Ryan Jenkins, a contestant on "Megan wants a Millionaire," was found hung from a closet door in a Canada motel after committing suicide. Why? Oh, because he brutally murdered his ex-wife and playmate, Jasmine Fiore. Hulk Hogan, from the show "Hogan knows best," divorced his wife of 20+ years after the launch of the series and quickly found a young twenty-something, i.e. one of his daughters friends.

Are we seeing a pattern here? The only reality about "Reality TV" is that you have to have a screw or two loose to be on it. Family ties are broken, lunatics are exposed and irresponsibility is rampant. Moral of the story: if you don't get a real job or acquire some sort of useful skill, vying for the spotlight won't fill in the gaps.