Is it not enough we have been force-fed with her TV show? Now we have to endure her on the big screen.

I am talking about the bottle-blonde Paris Hilton – yes, the heiress who is famous for writing a book (which, I think, consists only of pictures), a sex tape that fails in comparison to Tommy and Pam and a “reality show” that has more writers than “Frasier.”

I guess everything about her is fake, but she officially has stooped to a new level of pathetic – something I thought most people left behind in elementary school. Paris had her mommy talk to a producer at Paramount Pictures so she would be able to be in a movie called “Fashionistas,” starring the ever-so-talented Lindsay Lohan.

What is even more humorous is that she has yet to read for the part. She heard someone talking about the concept of the movie and decided, “Yeah, I know I have no acting ability, but that really doesn’t matter: I’m in Hollywood, where you don’t need any talent.”

And that is my point exactly.

The American public is constantly sucked into Hollywood trends. I do like to be entertained, but is there a possibility that Hollywood can go back to the days when celebrities had class – and talent?

Just look at all the people who have become celebrities simply by doing nothing but being photographed in tabloids and magazines. Does Nicole Richie, Kim Stewart or the Bush and Kerry daughters ring a bell? Ding, ding, ding. All of these people have become staples in magazines as if we care about their lives. Oh wait … we do.

We as a society may complain about how we do not care about a celebrity’s life, but we will listen to the gossip and read the tabloids or buy the magazines. It is not just the media and the paparazzi that enable these nuisances. It is the American public as well.

Hilton and Richie had a hit show for two seasons. It won its time slot for both seasons, and it was not entirely because of teenyboppers, but because of adult men as well. They watched the show because of the way Hilton was – and still is – portrayed in the media. I do not have to explain how she is portrayed; I am not allowed to write the word I would use to describe it.

So, the question at hand is: Why are we consumed with celebrity life? Why do we watch “Access Hollywood,” “Entertainment Tonight” or “The Fabulous Life … ”? Why do we waste our money?

Because it is not our life. Because it is fun to laugh and judge such ridiculous behavior at someone else’s expense without any consequences.

Celebrities allow us to say: “Wow, I thought I was crazy, but watching [insert celebrity name here] has made me realize that I am all right.”

As much as we try to deny it, the public makes a celebrity, and then the celebrity makes a fool out of the public by putting out terrible products and force-feeding their image down our throats until we say “OK” and swallow.

But the solution is easy. Don’t swallow.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.