With all due respect to Stanley Kramer, Spencer Tracy and the whole cast of the 1963 comedy film of the same name as this post, I find nothing really comedic with what I see in our society every day. It is truly a mad, mad, mad, mad world out there.
Last year, when this post first started forming in my brain, it was the result of my decision to cancel my subscription to People Magazine.
Those of you that know me probably just spit out your coffee, or at least lowered your mug in disbelief. For those that don't, let me share with you just how big a deal this is. People Magazine has been a cultural icon in my life since the first issue was taken off the presses and placed in the rack at the grocery store. That first issue had Mia Farrow, biting on her pearls, on the cover, March, 1974.
I would be shocked to find if my mother did not still have that issue, somewhere. You see, I grew up with this magazine. Mom got them every week, saved many of the issues, Them, and other magazines, would get stacked in the living room, next to the piano, for "posterity".
As I got older, I read them as well. I bought them in college with my own money. And then I eventually got my own subscription when I moved out on my own. As I traveled every week with my job, I could count on the newest issue being in my Friday or Saturday mail and I would take it on the road the next week. I could read it as I dried my hair, or waited on the hot rollers to cool. It gave me glimpses into the worlds of those I watched on the big and small screens. I could see things from all over the country, and around the world even. I would read them from cover to cover, skipping only the television, movie or book reviews. I like to make up my own mind about those things.
And I saved the "special issues". The royal wedding, and Princess Diana's death. The passing of the Hollywood cultural icons. The second generation royal wedding. Sexiest Man of the Year. I have years of magazines hidden in cabinets and trunks. When I was in the local production of "Steel Magnolias" we were discussing the stage dressing. The whole play is set in Truvy's beauty shop and one constant in every beauty shop is magazines. The concern was the time period of the play and that our dressing would look too current. Have no fear. I showed up with issues from the 1980s and '90s.
So, for the better part of 40 years, People Magazine has been an institution in my daily life. The only time I can remember not having a subscription as an adult was during a time when we really had to make some budget cuts. Since then, if I even mention not renewing for financial reasons, Billy would nix it. We could cut something else. He knew I loved it. It was just a part of me.
So, now you see why me giving them up was a big deal.
I found that I started reading them less in the last couple of years. I would still read them all as I had before, but not as quickly. They might stack up for few weeks until I could get caught up. It seemed that every cover and every issue would have the latest celebrity unwed mother, or the wedding of the couple that already had two or three or six children together. In the "Passages" section under Births, the couple would have to be identified as the husband or wife. Before, titles were only used if the couple was unmarried. Now, they felt as if they had to tell us they actually were, as that was the uncommon situation, the exception instead of the rule. And the coverage of the deaths of some of the greats of the past generation would only garner a paragraph in passing, maybe a page if they were a huge star. People that you could actually feel good about emulating were glossed over for pages on the last ridiculous baby name. Issues devoted to people who were only famous for being famous (read KarTRASHians, or Hilton) instead of those had true merit.
And the stories inside of real people were wonderful, but not plentiful. I loved reading about the Los Angeles teens that make hundreds of burritos every day and feed the homeless. Or communities that fill backpacks with food for low income children to take home on weekends when they don't receive school provided meals. Real people doing real good in their worlds. Being the kind of people that deserve to be on the covers. That have earned the recognition that they never sought.
But no, we get Honey Boo Boo.
So, is this a classic case of the chicken and the egg? The content of the magazine continues to go downhill. Is that a result of what we are willing to accept in society and it is reflecting that acceptance, or is society accepting it because it keeps getting thrown in our faces as being "okay". If it is on the cover of every magazine and they are still selling, it must be acceptable, right?
I've harped on this before. No point in prattling on and on about it again. But, at this point in my life, I had to take a different stand. Some of the only ways I know to make differences are by effecting folks in their pocketbooks. If everyone that didn't want to see another unwed mother glorified with a magazine cover would not purchase that issue then maybe a message gets delivered. If issues with the latest celebrity affair or "starter marriage" or divorce after 45 days would go unread then maybe they would quit producing them. I absolutely love "The Big Bang Theory", and "Friends" when it was airing, but who is worth $1 million an episode? No one, in my estimation. Teachers, police officers, firefighters, soldiers all have to work multiple jobs in many cases to make their ends meets and support their families. And three of those positions I listed including potentially dying for a total stranger as a job requirement. And teachers have been known to die for and with their students in school violence and all they are trying to do is educate future generations. Why is the value placed on their professions so much less than those of actors or professional athletes? Why are stories about these real-life heros buried in the pages of the magazines behind the latest fashion trends or photos of the glitzy parties?
I'm not saying get rid of the party pics and fashion tips. I love those. But maybe just rethink what images are representing the brand?
It's a crazy world out there. Everything seems to be acceptable and anything goes. I wonder if it can be changed. Can we reverse course? What happens if we don't?
I don't know. But I can hope.
And I can help.
Last August I called customer service to not renew my subscription. I wanted to tell someone why I didn't want to renew. After multiple trips through the phone tree, to no one that spoke more than broken English, I had to cry uncle temporarily. I finally worked my way through the website and cancelled the auto renewal in February this year. Starting in January I received notices weekly that the next issue would be my last! Don't delay! Renew today!
I didn't. Let it stop.
But they haven't.
To this day weekly issues of People Magazine continue to be delivered in my mail. They are stacked in my bathroom. About a foot and half tall. I'm currently working through November 2014. I won't throw them out until I've read them. Even though I recycle them, it feels wasteful to just toss them in the bin unopened. Trying to find the redeeming stories and skimming the rest. Passing over the fashion trends that are now 8 months out of date. Wondering how many of the weddings being covered will be over before the year is out. Looking at award show pictures for movies I still haven't seen. Cheering the good deeds and crying over the evil that exists in the most unexpected of places.
And wondering when real people will grace the covers.
