Category: Seriously WTF?

Sticks and Stones and Glass Houses

by maryhelenc, posted in Celebrity Fluff, Seriously WTF?, support Windsor!

In the wake of five teenage boys who committed suicide (a Rutgers University student most recently) as a response to bullying, the famous and infamous are speaking out.

After Ellen Degeneres’s passionate pleas to stop the hate; other celebs followed suit including pseudo-celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. This is all well and good, except that Hilton (real name Mario Lavandeira Jr) has made his notoriety as a cyber bully (who favours Miley Cyrus, Fergie, Vanessa Hudgens and Kristen Stewart as his favourite victims).

I understand that Hilton is a homosexual man and this cause hits close to home for him, but you can’t pick and choose who deserves to be bullied.  This man often targets Miley Cyrus, a teenager 14 years his junior as a target and refers to her as “Slutty Cyrus”, a “skank” or “Mileybird the slut”. These childish taunts prompted 15 year old Phoebe Prince to take her life in January. Hilton offered nary a mention to teenage girls who may be living in a similar situation to Prince but continues to speak out to stop the bullying of  LGBT teenagers. The message Hilton is sending is that while it’s wrong to bully LGBT teens, it’s okay to torture the crap out of  straight teen girls.

It’s hard enough to be a teenager without the constant torment that comes from bullying. In this Facebook/blog/Twitter/text age, there is no escape. I was bullied in elementary school, but at least I could go home. Kids have no escape anymore. Social networking can be a deadly weapon in the hands of a bully, something Hilton knows very well.  Hilton used YouTube to launch a campaign against Miss USA finalist Carrie Prejean (who said she was against gay marriage), encouraging people to call her a “c**t”. He also used Twitter to launch a childish tirade against Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.Am, whom he claimed punched him after Hilton reduced fellow Peas member to tears at the Muchmusic Video Awards and later called Will.i.Am a “f****t”.  Hilton offered no apology to either Peas member for the slurs and continues to taunt them on his site.

While Hilton’s attempts to help LGBT teens is admirable, the fact is that he’s built his infamy on the tears of others. Unless he is willing to admit what he is and apologize to the men and women he’s hurt over the years and practice what he preaches, he’s no different then the kid in detention who writes an essay on being nice; everyone knows he doesn’t mean it and the kid who finally spoke out is getting a beatdown in the locker room. Hate is hate, regardless of who is on the receiving end and bullying needs to stop so that every single teenager can enjoy their high school years and look back on them fondly, instead of with the sadness that carries into adulthood.

***ASH Multimedia would like to remind everyone that bullying is WRONG and should never be tolerated. If you or someone you know at your school is being bullied, make sure you come forward. Tell a teacher, your principal or parents. If you don’t feel you can talk to them, remember the Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868). It’s not funny, or a game, or a joke. It’s CRUEL. Coming forward is not tattling or pussying out, it’s doing the right thing. Don’t let your friends or yourself be a victim.***

I need to win an Oscar so I can do my job better

by maryhelenc, posted in Celebrity Fluff, Seriously WTF?

Academy Award winner (& epic failure) Kevin Costner took to congress this week to talk about the after effects of the BP oil spill.

This begs the question: how is a guy who can barely do his day job well going to talk environmental science?

Seriously, were all the real scientists busy that day?

Celebrities moonlighting as people with actual jobs has become a really odd trend. Brad Pitt and his paramour Angelina Jolie are designing houses in New Orleans instead of an actual architect because he likes houses. John Travolta fancies himself a commercial pilot. Victoria Beckham is the lunch lady at son Brooklyn’s school, you get the idea.

I understand celebrity worship but there comes a time when we need to let the academically trained professionals do their job. You wouldn’t let Tom Cruise fly an F-18 Hornet into Afghanistan or Tori Spelling operate on your colon, so why allow a celebrity to talk science or build houses for the needy?

I understand things “seem real” when Oprah’s involved, but sometimes you’ve got to tell the celebs to make a movie & let the professionals do their job. I know I would make a terrible movie, just like I know Ashlee Simpson-Wentz was a terrible editor of Marie Claire. Let’s all go back to doing our day jobs, unless you’re Kevin Costner, you suck at your day job too. Perhaps you should look at acting classes instead of taking more science classes at DeVry.

I just wanted a job

by maryhelenc, posted in Seriously WTF?

It’s no secret that I’m frustrated with my job. I’ve worked hard for two and a half years and have never gotten a promotion, just some consideration and an eff yourself. I can’t be stuck in a stationary position with no growth, no opportunity so I’ve explored options elsewhere.

There is another position at a centre that I’ve been told to apply for off and on for a year. I’ve interviewed with no luck, so I applied again. During a follow up call, the company’s recruiter lied about who he was, claimed a wrong number & hung up on me.

If they aren’t hiring; the recruiter could have told me, but he didn’t. He misrepresented himself, lied and humiliated me. If this is how they treat prospective employees, how do they treat employees?!

I’m seriously considering calling the Ontario Human Rights commission about this but I don’t know what they can do. A little politeness & honesty would have gone much further.

An Open Letter to Negative People

by maryhelenc, posted in Celebrity Fluff, Seriously WTF?

Dear people, it’s not that bad.

WWE Superstar Matt Hardy was whining on Twitter about how he is “underutilised” and how he’s sick of it and how WWE needs to take notice or he’s going to take his ball and go home. It made me think about what I’m putting out there in terms of my job. My job totally sucks, it’s not my dream job, but I guess I should be fortunate that I have one. Last week, after a particularily crappy day at said job, a dear friend told me “sh*t comes in waves to weed out the weak. Only the strong survive.” It helped me realize that the negative experiences will help me become a better wife and mother.

Then there are those who are so self absorbed that they can’t appreciate anything in their lives because they don’t have their dream job or the right car. These people spend so much time whining that they don’t see that they have a great family or awesome friends or any other blessings. They end up so jaded and bitter that they end up losing everything. Hardy can’t appreciate that he is known for his role in one of the world’s most popular tag teams, or that he’s won 13 championships working his dream job. All he can see is that he isn’t one of the select few to go to that top tier. It’s like the guy who neglects his wife and family because he doesn’t get a promotion. In the end, the wife leaves and he’s left alone, no promotion and no family.

The lesson is to get over yourself. No one ever gets everything in life that they want. Everybody is missing out on something they hoped to achieve and while it’s sucks, it’s part of living. I have friends living their dream job who wish they had a family. Friends with a failed marriage just wish they had said the right thing. Meanwhile the people who have someone to love, a decent job and an okay life just want MORE. Why do you need more when you don’t appreciate what you have now? Fate rewards those who appreciate what they have already been given. Maybe if you took a look around you, you could see what you’ve been given and a look in the mirror to see what’s holding you back.

Perception is reality and attitude can make all the difference. If you spend 85% of your life bitching about how much your job sucks on Twitter, chances are your high profile job won’t take you seriously. If you spend your life whining about how you need more, you’ll end up with less in the end. Take a minute to focus on what matters and prioritize your life so that the things you need are ahead of the things you want.