Chris Brown and Rihanna’s tumultuous relationship gets almost as much coverage as international human suffering.
Today’s top story: Rihanna and Chris Brown back together? Then, 50 dead following bombing in Syria.
Celebrities’ personal lives will inevitably get exposed by a trashy journalist or photographer — that comes with the title.
So it’s no surprise the Internet lost its collective mind when Brown and Rihanna got snuggly at the Grammys on Feb. 10.
“How could they get back together? After the way he treated her?” Internet commenters asked while crying over their own pathetic lives.
Why does it matter?
Last time I checked, the relationship status of two pop stars didn’t affect any of us on a personal level. Honestly, who cares?
Apparently, someone cared enough to throw a bottled sports drink at Rihanna on Sunday. The Independent reported the pop star was “allegedly assaulted … by a man who was angry about her relationship with Chris Brown.”
He was angry that Rihanna, a human with this new thing called “free will,” made a decision on who she spends her time with.
Did the decision make the attacker lose his job? His girlfriend? Was his life, in any way, made more difficult by the event? Probably not.
While I personally wouldn’t want to get together with anyone who beat me up, I’ve never been in that situation. But more importantly, I’m not Rihanna. I don’t know how their relationship has progressed since Brown assaulted her, and frankly, I don’t want to know. I don’t care. It’s none of my business.
It’s no one’s business, actually.
If anyone ever feels the need to physically harm another after learning an intimate detail of two completely separate human beings, he or she needs to seek professional help.
I’ve been learning about personal mental health in one of my classes this semester. I’m pretty sure throwing drinks at a celebrity for her relationship choices isn’t a characteristic of a mentally healthy person.
Everyone has the right to date whomever he or she wants. As the saying goes, “The heart wants what the heart wants,” and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it.
So the next time you’re reading celebrity gossip on TMZ, E! Online or a similar “news” outlet, remember that what you’re reading, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t even begin to matter.
Instead of arguing over whether two people should spend time together, maybe we should be talking about supporting victims of domestic abuse or how Brown’s music sucks. Seriously, have you heard “Look At Me Now?” I’d rather eat hot coals while dodging cars on I-10 than hear that hangnail of a song ever again.
Incidentally, that would also be more productive than talking about who Rihanna dates.
Taylor Balkom is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Baton Rouge.
