My better half and I were ending a nice weekend with some tube time. She wanted to watch "The Simple Life" starring (and I use the term as loosely as possible) Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Not my first choice, but I thought of it as harmless entertainment. I have to say I was dead wrong.
In the fourth season of this popular reality series, the two rich socialites, who now hate each other, travel the country filling in for various suburban moms. In this show, Paris "looks after" the daughter and Nicole trifles with the husband while Mom takes a spa day.
Throughout the episode, Hilton toyed with the mind and emotions of a 3-year-old girl in a way that this psychotherapist thought was quite disturbing.
Paris must have believed that this was OK because they both were at the same emotional maturity level.
The girl's parents should be held accountable. Letting their desire for 15 minutes of fame and a few bucks possibly do damage to their daughter's self-esteem, as well as to their relationship, is totally inappropriate.
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As for Richie, I see her shenanigans with the husband as harmful to the marriage. If the couple actually survives this experience, it will be a miracle.
The wife could easily see Nicole's sexual antics with her husband, which included a strip-club encounter, as infidelity. I have seen couples split up over less.
For a husband and a father to allow himself to be put in compromising positions and displayed for the world to see is not what I'd call great role modeling.
Hey, don't get me wrong: I'm not an uptight, close-minded, middle-aged guy; 50 is the new 30, right? I'm all for having fun and being made fun of, but Paris and Nicole are way over the top here.
These two overprivileged vixens do their best to make anybody they come in contact with uncomfortable or feel less-than.
OK, I get the premise of the show — embarrass everyone while looking cool — but I think mental injury was done to this family. And to mess with the mind of a 3-year-old is way beyond crossing the bounds of good taste; it's an emotional violation of a child.
As for the Hilton and Richie families, I can't imagine how mortified they must be by their daughters' behaviors. I believe that with wealth comes some responsibility. Unfortunately, it seems that neither one of these wannabe stars was brought up to give a damn about anything except social position and money. How sad for all of them.
The only solace that I can see coming from this series is that, in time, Hilton and Richie will regret their behaviors. It takes some brains to make a TV show, and, even though Paris and Nicole have put their smarts aside for the time being, eventually they will see the hurt they have caused. Hopefully, it will happen before either one of them has to enter (or re-enter) rehab.
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