What does it say about the American people when every TV channel you tuned to yesterday was about the voluptuous blond wannabe-actress, Anna Nicole Smith? According to news reports, “NBC’s Nightly News devoted 14 seconds to Iraq compared to 3 minutes and 13 seconds to Anna Nicole. CNN referenced Anna Nicole 522% more frequently than it did Iraq. MSNBC was even worse — 708% more references to Anna Nicole than Iraq”. What is going on here?

I can venture a guess that it all has to do with our inner hidden needs. I myself, would venture back to the Smith news and questioned myself each time that I did. It seemed as though there was this unconscious attraction to someone “famous” or “infamous” depending on your perspective. But in any event, there was an attraction if I was to be totally honest. Just what is this attraction and why can we not seem to control it?

I personally feel that it has a lot to do with the same emotions that allure us to Shakespearian plays. How could there not be more drama unfolding than in a Shakespearian tragedy? All the elements are there to entice us. Shakespeare’s fierce attempts to unfold a drama that reveals the dark side of human nature from lust to murder, beckons us to return again and again. We dip our toes in the water of emotions and get hooked.

I also believe that, not only the attraction to human drama pulls us in, but our longing to identify with someone famous is a factor. Our inward need for recognition drives us to tune in to someone else’s unfolding drama who happens to be known to us all. This inward desire lies in our almost obsessive attempts to define and assert our identities for ourselves, through their celebrity, actions, and social dramas being played out across the human stage. Anna Nicole’s life contains the same Shakespearian drama and conflict that we are drawn to. Our obsession with her and her fate are driven by desire in many forms, but chiefly the desire for recognition by others who are closely connected with the tragic outcomes of every day drama.

So, the next time you tune in to the petty portrayals of celebrities’ trials and tribulations, you may just be tuning in to the same motivations for Shakespeare. Hmmmm….does that make you feel any better? Well, I hope so, because after all, according to Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”