Very Very Sextra-Ordinary

We all know that sex sells. If you have a bit more sex appeal and allure, you are apt to get a little further in this world with a little less effort. But, is this as true as it used to be?

Tonight, I noticed the opposite on “Dancing with the Stars,” one of my extravagant television pleasures. I thought for sure that Gilles Marini’s sex appeal and great dancing would keep him on the show until the finals. And I thought for sure that Apollo Ohno’s bad boy, in-the-news attitude would get him kicked off, as he was in the bottom two stars, in the last show down.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: who is the heck knows what people are voting for on this show or any of these other shows where audience gets to participate? It certainly isn’t talent. We realize over and over again when people with the highest judges ratings get kicked off mid-season and the ones who sing off pitch and trip and fall stay till the end that talent doesn’t have staying power. Likability generally does, though. And, it appears, that sex appeal doesn’t much matter either.

I love monitoring all of this simply because it shows mass appeal or what we have been talking about in the spirit as social consciousness. If how we judge is not by talent but by grace, perhaps, we are gaining ground as a whole in the spiritual realm.

We pick the stars who have tainted pasts and look to see them redeem themselves over and over again. It’s what we do as the voyeurs who watch movies and television. I can’t say that I’m not aloof to all of it. I’d love to see Lindsey Lohan clean up her act and become an awesome, iconic woman like Oprah.

I just had a dear friend’s son get out of jail. I’m more thrilled for him than I was for an Olympic champion. Real life trumps the stars’ lives every time for me. I guess the closer people on television become to real life, the more we can relate. So, this is the reason why we have so many reality television shows.

I have to say, I’d much rather watch something that is written and has a beginning, middle and end, than watch a tragic group of New Jersey housewives duke it out week after week. I can’t be bothered. But I have plenty of friends who can’t get enough of it. They turn it on for background, like we used to do with music. It’s as if the children of this age of parents who fought constantly now have to have ambient arguing to make them feel at home and comfortable.

Reality may sell a great deal now, but does sex still sells too. It may not sell as much as it used to. I knew a gentleman who was almost Greek god looking. He was a fairly astute businessman. But what he lacked was age and imperfection. Many people were afraid to trust him, because he just looked too damn perfect.  He has had to start over in about three different businesses since I’ve known him in seven years. Finally, he just moved from Nashville to another city, I guess where perfection and good looks were in abundance and wasn’t a problem. I hope it works out for him.

I know as I have gotten older that I am about as interested in the sexy person walking down the street as I am cupcakes with icing three inches high. They are both way too sweet for me. I need something way more substantial to hold my interest.

I’ve heard plenty of people say that “Reality Bites!” But if it does, then why do we spend so much of our time watching it play out over and over again in other people’s lives on reality television? Have you thought about that?

If you really want to stop the madness in your life, stop watching real crazy people on television acting like imbeciles. This gets into your consciousness and begins to drive it. What you think inside, you become externally. Even if you think it is fun to watch, somewhere inside you the television show is recording in your brain and saying it is real and normal and okay to act this way. The more we watch anything, the more our minds get numb to its negativity.