Okay, I'm probably really too late to come in on this with a worthy comment, but having to wrestle with my hubby for the PC and managing to stay up WAY past my bedtime even though I gotta work tomorrow, I feel compelled to throw in my two cents to say:

...isn't the MEDIA mostly to blame for this sort of thing?

I mean the orginal question is "Why is it so popular to make fun of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears?" I gotta feel that these gals, for whatever reason, have put themselves in the position for ridicule, but if the media turned a blind eye, they'd probably stop it.

Plus you got the human being factor on this as Arwin says:
Quote
So Jack an Jill enjoy stealing a read about her in the gossip column which give them a warm glow of superiority.
If nobody bought this stuff, it probably wouldn't be news at all.

That's all I got. Return to normal programming.

Jayne Cobb: Shepherd Book once said to me, "If you can't do something smart, do something RIGHT!