What Price Glory?

I was listening to a local radio show this morning, and they were interviewing a guy who had just won (for what it's worth) a Smallest Penis Contest.  Logic (and good taste) would make someone wonder why a man would enter such a contest, but that didn't seem to be the focal point of the interview.

Among other things, the amount of money he won was in question. He won the princely sum of $200 for his efforts, along with a crown (of course) and a magnifying glass.

For the record (as if there is one) his unofficial measurement was two inches when flaccid, which I didn't consider a World Record-Setting number, but nevertheless ...

The thought occurred (which is dangerous, I know) that people seem more concerned with some form of fame than they do with their own personal image.  Modern television has become a showcase for embarrassing oneself, displays of scripted reality, and exposing our faults and foibles for entertainment purposes.

Witness programs like "Hoarders," which showcases people with mental illness who have allowed their homes to become repositories for everything they can lay their hands on.  There is "Intervention," in which addicts abuse their bodies and their families for our entertainment.  For an hour, these people are put on display - seemingly to make us feel better about ourselves.

MTV has a couple of programs that question my belief in human pride.  One, "16 and Pregnant" parades a pregnant teenager around, while her mother and boyfriend spar about the upbringing of the unfortunate child she is carrying.  There are others - usually having something to do with an under-aged girl battling some anti-social circumstance.  I suppose these programs are aimed at their target demographic and attempt to make responsible teenagers feel as good about themselves as "Hoarders" makes middle-aged Americans feel about themselves.  It's all about dysfunction.

My favorite (in a manner of speaking) is one called "My Strange Addiction," which spotlights people who do things like eat dryer lint, laundry detergent and collect their own sperm.  Yeah, really.

What do these people get out of exposing themselves in public?  Admittedly, the tiny penis guy is more of a social stigma than something to be concerned about.  But the "Hoarders" group and the pregnant teens are something of which I would guess people would say, "Um ... no, I don't think so"when approached to expose their problems on National television.

I do a lot of stupid things, and if a TV crew asked if they could follow me around and watch me do it, film it and show it on television they would have to offer me some form of Witness Protection Program for my efforts.  After all, I have to go to work on Monday, and the stares of my co-workers and their wonder at my disorders would last a lot longer than any four-figure amount of money that I could be given in exchange for the exposure.

But that's just me.