In contemporary media, wealthy people are portrayed as egotistical and unintelligent…

In contemporary media, wealthy people are portrayed as egotistical and unintelligent… Erin O’Connell Alli Pintal Heather Hand

Suite Life of Zach and Cody • Dad owns popular hotel in Boston. • Family is very wealthy • Click on the link to hear quotes by London • London Tipton at her best • She shows both egotistical and unintelligent qualities London Tipton

London is the most wealthy out of all her friends. • She doesn’t understand why people work for a living and why they can’t afford the things she can. • Very spoiled, gets anything she wants from her dad. • Her favorite saying is “Yayy me!” This is the title of her show she creates during one of the Suite Life episodes. • In another episode, she auditions for a play and sings the song, “London Tipton’s Really Great.”

Jessica Simpson • Known for saying unintelligent things… • “Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it says 'Chicken by the Sea.'” • “Twenty-three is old. It's almost 25, which is like almost mid-20s.” Is this chicken or fish?!?!

“Platypus? I thought it was pronounced platymapus. Has it always been pronounced Platypus?" • When Jessica was asked if she wanted a buffalo wing she said, “Sorry I don’t eat buffalo.” • Many of these quotes were said during the show, “The Newlyweds” on MTV, which showed that although she may have a lot of money, she is not that intelligent.

Randy Moss • Great football player, and he lets everyone know. • While on the Vikings, he pretended to moon the Green Bay crowd after scoring a touch down. • During the last game of the 2004 regular season, he walked off the field and into the locker room before the game was over because his team was losing. • While on the Vikings he was quoted as saying, “I play when I want to play.” • In one interview, Randy also was saying how he wanted to play in games, but he didn’t think he should have to practice like everyone else.

My Super Sweet Sixteen • Show on MTV featuring wealthy teenagers who are turning sixteen. • They have their lives taped up until the day of their birthday parties. • Most act very snobby and conceded. • For example, in one of the episodes, the girl’s dad pretended like he got her a mini van for a present and she started to cry because she wanted a better car. • In the episode featuring Darnell, he felt that he was too good looking to go to his party with a girl from school, so he arrived with Rihanna for his main entrance.

“The Surrender of the Ego” • Edwin Spina, author of the award winning thriller, Mystic Warrior, explains in his article why people who are successful usually have large egos. • He says, “These people are never wrong, seldom accept advice and once they stake out a position, they will do anything to defend it. At best, they are perfectionists.” • Spina also says how it is hard for successful people to lower their ego because of the people who idolize them. • “The biblical adage that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven, would be equally true if business mogul, politician, or celebrity were substituted for ‘rich man.’” says Spina.

“The Neiman Marcus Paradox” • Daniel Gross, journalist at the online magazine Slate, wrote this article about rich people who are not good at handling their money. • He says that a good number of them spend more money than they make. • Research done by Arthur Kennickell, Federal Reserves Economist, showed that in 2001, US households with more than $5.9 million in net worth owed $346 billion in debt. • This article shows that some rich people are not as good as people think with managing money and sometimes make unintelligent decisions dealing with their finances.

“‘It’ Girls Work Hard at Playing Dumb” • This article, written by FOX News reporter Jennifer D’Angelo, makes a good point about the relationship between the media and celebrities. • From the comments they make on camera, it seems as if celebrities such as Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton are just dumb blondes, but behind closed doors, they may act smarter than we think. • It seems to many that these celebrities purposely make unintelligent comments to get publicity. • Watching these stars on TV and reading articles about them in magazines are ways for the public to get to know them, but some celebrities may be putting on the “dumb blonde” act in front of the cameras. • Pop culture expert Nancy Snow theorized, “I think it’s kind of a sweetheart deal between them and the media. It really helps to feed the publicity machine.” • Even if Jessica and Britney are actually very intelligent in real life, all the people who only know them by watching them on TV would never know because the media portrays them as being very unintelligent.

Sources • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzNi---IXDA&eurl=http://video.aol.com/video-detail/nobodys-perfect-london-tipton-funny-quotes/2346750686 • http://realitytv.about.com/od/featuresinterviews/p/ParisandJessica.htm • http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/blog/jessica-simpson-thumb.jpg • http://thinkexist.com/quotes/jessica_simpson/3.html • http://www.badjocks.com/jessica-simpson/official_jessica_simpson_humor_page.htm • http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=wickersham_seth&id=3122052 • http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2&hl=en&q=snobs+on+my+super+sweet+sixteen • http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Surrender-of-the-Ego&id=76401 • http://www.slate.com/id/2118391/ • http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,118092,00.html

In contemporary media, wealthy people are portrayed as egotistical and unintelligent…