Way back when movies were first being commercialized, actors and actresses didn’t have the press coverage that they do today. Paparazzi was just an obscure Italian word. Tabloids were virtually unknown. No one knew the intimate details of the latest “It” couple, let alone that there was an “It” couple. This was not good for those early stars. In order for people to go see their movies, they realized that they had to get their names in front of the public eye and so an industry was born. Movie star magazines became all the rage and as radio broadcasting matured, gossip columnists like Hedda Hopper flourished. The audience couldn’t get enough dirt about their favourite heroes and heroines. Soon enough, those same heroes and heroines realized that maybe there was too much of a good thing. An industry was born; a nightmare was created.
There is something about gossip that is irresistible to us all. Deep within us there must be a gene that creates a curiosity about our onscreen public figures, and the odd lady that lives just around the corner. We have an indefatigable nosiness about the personal business of those around us, and a seemingly inexhaustible energy to listen in or add to the conversation. Early movie stars knew this; they exploited our natural need for neighbourly news in order to generate ticket sales, even at the cost of their own privacy.
It’s a strange thing, really. It’s one thing to know the intimate details of ones own family or circle of close friends. It’s perfectly natural to share some of those details about one another so long as they are true and they contribute to the other person’s well-being. That’s not gossip; that’s simply the normal course of getting to know each other and it’s perfectly healthy. Gossip, on the other hand, might be normal, but it’s not healthy. It diminishes the gossiper, the listener and the subject at hand. What’s more, since gossip is often second-hand information or sheer speculation, it’s wrong more often than it is right. Furthermore, people rarely share good gossip. It’s not very often that we hear about someone’s successes or joys. Instead, we usually hear about their woes, their miseries or how they cheated to get their joy and success.
Gossip does not please God. It does not please our creator when we talk about others without having the truth, a righteous cause and that person’s best interest at heart. Most of us have our own problems and issues with which to wrest and struggle. We’re better off talking to God or our a trusted confidant about how we might grow and improves rather than building up our egos by sharing how a neighbour has fallen down.
Some people make a great deal of profit from spreading gossip. Some people make a great deal of profit from having gossip spread about them. For most people, however, the greatest profit comes from thinking twice about what we say in reference to others, and keeping quiet unless we have something very kind and loving to say about them. At least that’s the way I see it.
There is something about gossip that is irresistible to us all. Deep within us there must be a gene that creates a curiosity about our onscreen public figures, and the odd lady that lives just around the corner. We have an indefatigable nosiness about the personal business of those around us, and a seemingly inexhaustible energy to listen in or add to the conversation. Early movie stars knew this; they exploited our natural need for neighbourly news in order to generate ticket sales, even at the cost of their own privacy.
It’s a strange thing, really. It’s one thing to know the intimate details of ones own family or circle of close friends. It’s perfectly natural to share some of those details about one another so long as they are true and they contribute to the other person’s well-being. That’s not gossip; that’s simply the normal course of getting to know each other and it’s perfectly healthy. Gossip, on the other hand, might be normal, but it’s not healthy. It diminishes the gossiper, the listener and the subject at hand. What’s more, since gossip is often second-hand information or sheer speculation, it’s wrong more often than it is right. Furthermore, people rarely share good gossip. It’s not very often that we hear about someone’s successes or joys. Instead, we usually hear about their woes, their miseries or how they cheated to get their joy and success.
Gossip does not please God. It does not please our creator when we talk about others without having the truth, a righteous cause and that person’s best interest at heart. Most of us have our own problems and issues with which to wrest and struggle. We’re better off talking to God or our a trusted confidant about how we might grow and improves rather than building up our egos by sharing how a neighbour has fallen down.
Some people make a great deal of profit from spreading gossip. Some people make a great deal of profit from having gossip spread about them. For most people, however, the greatest profit comes from thinking twice about what we say in reference to others, and keeping quiet unless we have something very kind and loving to say about them. At least that’s the way I see it.
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