This weekend, Michelle Obama delivered a commencement address to the graduating class at Bowie State University - a historically black college in Maryland. During her speech, she lamented society's obsession with celebrity, worried about kids' desire for fame and fortune, and admonished parents to help young people turn their backs on such lavish lifestyles.
"Today, instead of walking miles every day to school, they’re sitting on couches for hours playing video games, watching TV," she said of black youth. "Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper."
Apparently, students are just too focused on daydreams about careers as athletes and rappers. As a result, the First Lady says they aren't pursuing math and science. Where, oh where, could they have gotten the idea that life as a musician would take you to the highest possible income levels, and have you hob-knobbing with the world's power-elite?
Oh, come on. That's not fair. Obama loves Jay-Z and Springsteen. The fact they were featured at multiple campaign stops in 2008 and 2012 is just, well, the way it is.
Besides, Michelle Obama's warnings are well-intentioned. Sure, her time in the White House has been marked by constant, non-stop, Gatsby-style parties with everyone from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to Usher, Tiger Woods, and Beyonce, but that's her life. Things are different for the little people.
She eats lobster with drawn butter, you eat salad. Remember?
Parents, she said, have a duty to recognize this and help place their kids on a different path. "Take a stand against the media that elevates today’s celebrity gossip instead of the serious issues of our time. Take a stand against the culture that glorifies instant gratification instead of hard work and lasting success."
Michelle's speech was solid, though it's hard to claim it wouldn't have been improved had the administration hired Tom Hanks to read it for them. After all, folks like Hanks, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and George Clooney are some of the Obama family's event and advertising mainstays.
Who can forget this Hanks-narrated, "The Road We've Travelled" propaganda film documentary?
Still, the First Lady may have a point. If we can steer our youth away from celebrity worship, we could vastly improve the country.
After all, it was celebrity that propelled a one-term Senatorial community organizer to the White House. It would certainly be nice to make sure that never happens again.
She's also correct when she says we need to focus on legitimate issues. If people were more concerned with Benghazi, the IRS, DOJ wiretapping, or the administration's constant anti-constitutional agenda, we'd be in a much better place. Instead, they're focused on Angelina Jolie's mastectomy, and they think Fast and Furious is a Vin Diesel movie about car thieves.
So, let's take Mrs. Obama's advice to heart.
No more celebrity worship. If, for example, we had a President who squandered all his time on outrageously expensive Hollywood parties, he should be soundly condemned. Michelle Obama has started the process. We should follow in her brave footsteps and reject the obnoxious level of importance we place upon actors, musicians and athletes.
Thank you, Michelle, for leading the way.
