Seeing Myth and Morality in Celebrity Gossip Media
Sometimes I wonder how folks are being raised. What were the lessons you learned, and how did you learn them? Who, if anyone, taught you the difference between right and wrong and how to make decisions based on your moral code? As a reading and religion kid, I had numerous opportunities to get caught up in the meaning of morality because it was so much a part of my community and culture. Whether it was the bookshelves full of every version of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” or the car rides listening to radio broadcasts of morality plays, I was obsessed with looking up parables and complex social problems. To this very day, I return to the big blue book by William J. Bennet titled “The Moral Compass” to find inspiration for writing my own short stories about life’s challenges.Known as the companion text to “The Book Of Virtues,” “The Moral Compass” would sit like a weight on my lap as I read how these different stories and poems spoke to important themes that would stand the test of time. However, as I got older, I realized that not everybody was as interested in traditional morality tales as I was. Yet, social norms, popular culture, and the mainstream media have managed to make up for this by creating multiple outlets where the public can judge others. Within the era of user-generated content, social media platforms have created new spaces for constant debate around what is right and wrong in every area of life, love, and our understanding of the law.These questions of morality have also been on my mind because it is conference season (and Libra season), so I get to go around town and talk about ethics. In composing these speeches, I am reminded of how often we conflate ethics with law, presuming that if something is lawful, it must also be ethical. However, if slavery is any example, we know that it is not true and that it is important to differentiate the rule of law from a code of ethics.
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