The saga of wayward Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham gets more bizarre and disappointing around every corner. That’s why, after this post, I won’t be dedicating a single headline to her ever again.
News and celebrity media thrive on one thing: Circulation. On the Internet this is called “pageviews,” and from Farrah Abraham’s numerous plastic surgeries to her faux-pregnancy scare following her professionally-made pornographic video to her recent solicitation of Charlie Sheen , we in the celebrity gossip camp have paid many a bill with dirty Farrah Abraham money.
You’re complicit in the train wreck, too. Because you read these stories, share them, and drive them trending to every front page of every media publication every time Abraham says or does something that completely betrays the odd and self-destructive inconsistencies of her life, you’re a part of the problem.
But it’s really us more than it is you. If these stories weren’t available, there’d be nothing for you to click on to satisfy your morbid curiosities about a once innocent teenager who lived through tragedy and hardship only to enslave herself in the name of attention, be it good or bad. And that’s why I’m not going to write about Farrah Abraham anymore.
Of course, this won’t be an “Atlas Shrugged” scenario. I don’t have a very wide circle of influence as a writer, and many publications are going to choose the bottom line over fueling the destruction of a human being. I don’t even know how many people will read this post… ten? One-hundred? Fifteen-hundred? Will it reach Farrah Abraham herself?
I can’t be sure, and I’m not even very hopeful.
But something about Farrah Abraham’s story has always bothered me. On one hand, she’s an adult and can make any alterations to her body and/or lifestyle she wants. She’s well within her human rights. On the other hand, there’s Sophia Laurent Abraham, Farrah’s daughter who was already handed a rough lot in life as she will grow up never knowing her father.
Sophia (meaning “wisdom”), whose inheritance irreversibly includes a careless pornographic film and hundreds if not thousands of articles dedicated to shining a light on and shaming Farrah Abraham’s questionable choices. When Sophia is finally old enough to “Google,” she won’t read a single positive thing about her mother. On YouTube, she’ll find herself being used by her mother to sell products and services stemming from questionable and even predatory endorsement deals.
Farrah’s story is not especially unique, but her legacy is one of increased and intense scrutiny.
America loves a good comeback story. We’re people who believe in redemption, salvation, and second chances. Britney Spears can shave her head and attack the paparazzi with an umbrella, yet we’re more than willing to push her music back to the top of the charts when she gets her life back together. Amanda Bynes might be crazy, she might just be a twentysomething exploring her own identity, but many of us are still rooting for her.
But the difference here is that we can’t tell if Farrah Abraham even wants to change. And thus, we must stop rewarding her lifestyle with attention.
So I’ve decided I don’t care. I don’t care because I do care . I care about Farrah Abraham, I care about Farrah Abraham’s daughter, I care about her broken relationships with her family members. I care about Farrah Abraham getting well and turning her ship around before it’s too late. Though my “circulation” may suffer, I’m not paying my bills by calling Farrah Abraham an idiot, a bad mom, or a selfish slut ever again. It’s just not me, and I wish I had come to that conclusion earlier.
I don’t know Farrah Abraham personally, so I’m not really one to judge her life other than by what is put out there by the press. But whether her life is a consequence of our actions or her own, I can safely say that nothing I have been doing is helping her. I can only hope that I’m not the only one who realizes it.
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