The saying goes “any publicity is good publicity,” but is it really true?
By now, most people have heard about the Kanye West and Taylor Swift incident that went down during MTV’s annual Video Music Awards. Even President Barack Obama had his own choice words about West, where he referred to the rapper as a donkey’s derriere, basically. West has caused a major uproar in just the Facebook universe alone, with many users updating their statuses following the live event.
Nevertheless, it all seems rather counterproductive.
If you encounter a blood-sucking parasite, you would not go up to the little disgusting organism and offer your arm to suck on. That is what is occurring when we bring attention to Kanye West’s antics. We are feeding West’s ego indirectly through our grapevine musings. His ego will only keep accumulating magnitude until it eats away Kanye West’s body and it is all that remains of the hip-hop celebrity.
All jokes aside, controversy seems to be the perennial trend in pop culture. Just look at Vanessa Hudgens, one of the stars of the hit Disney movie “High School Musical.” This teen starlet was featured in several entertainment news headlines after explicit photos of her were spread on the Internet. The public appeared to chastise her for not being a better role model for impressionable girls but not long after the scandal, Hudgens was being offered endorsement deals for brands like Sketchers and Neutrogena.
Skewing away from pop news, local news channels may not feature as many stories on which actress is dating which actor, but there seems to be a focus on the negative side of the world more than positive stories. How many times do you turn to the channel 2 or 5 evening news to find a story on a murder or rape that took place? More often than stories with a happy outcome.
This pattern of provoking reactions from the common consumer has become a marketing tool for entrepreneurs such as Michael Moore, a documentary director who is the epitome of controversial. Unlike the previous names I have mentioned thus far though, I can actually root for Moore. He uses controversy as a strategy to make citizens more socially and politically aware.
To garner such acclaim for films of the documentary genre is an impressive feat unto itself, but he has made people like me care more for significant issues like health care. I did not know that so many American citizens were without health insurance before I watched Moore’s film “Sicko.”
Sure, Moore is loud and radical and that may be why there are Web sites dedicated to slandering the filmmaker. However, he actually has something to say that is worth listening to. Even if you may disagree with his ideas, they invite you to think about things such as the state of the economy in the Unites States. He is not creating drama on award shows for the sake of being a ‘douche.’ He is not taking off his clothes and having pictures of his naked body distributed throughout the Internet, as many female celebrities seem wont to do these days (though granted, I don’t know if nude images of him would solicit as much popularity as ones of someone like Britney Spears, per say).
His controversial ways are actually benefiting the nation. After the film “Capitalism: A Love Story” was finished and the credits started rolling in the theater the evening I attended the screening, there was applause coming from everyone in the theater. It was as if people were thanking him for arousing their attention and doing something worthy of retaining their attention.
Controversy can be a beneficial tool if utilized by the right hands.