The Price Of Entertainment

[RockyRaccoon]

I had a discussion with a friend of mine about this subject the other day. It seems that as a society, we are pretty forgiving of celebrities who commit crimes provided they continue to entertain us.

Specifically, my friend and I were talking about sports. I mentioned that Donte Stallworth, a wide receiver recently cut by the Redskins, killed somebody driving drunk, paid off the family, gets a year suspended from the NFL, 24 days in prison, comes back to the NFL and no one seems to care. Even if he made a minimum salary, it's most likely at least $100,000 a year which is more than most upstanding citizens, let alone felons. Yet no one seems to mind.

Now I know this specific example is regarding sports, but I believe the same goes for the entire entertainment industry, whether it be music, movies or whatever. Perhaps another good example would have been Michael Jackson. Regardless of whether people believed he was innocent or not, people were excited for his upcoming tour and, had he been alive, he would've made millions of dollars on that tour.

My question: does society have a seemingly double standard towards the entertainment industry so that they can be, in fact, entertained?

[Shawna]

And the answer is a resounding YES. I agree with you on every point. I think it's filthy disgusting that society, as a whole, allows people with money/entertainers/politicians, etc. to get away - literally - with murder.

I don't know if it's all in the name of "entertainment," but it's the greens that seem to get those types of people off without a scratch.