At what price Fame?

What never ceases to amaze me is the lengths that people will go to in order to be famous. Case in point is this brutal beating of a young 16 yr old cheerleader by some of her fellow classmates here in Florida. I'm sure you've read about it by now because it has been all over the planet in the last 72 hours. What amazes me is the fact that it now appears that the whole thing was set up in such a fashion so that the people doing the beating would get their "15 minutes of fame" once it was broadcast on the Internet. They apparently used multiple cameras in order to get multiple angles of the beating and all the while you have roughly 6 young kids that are in the process of committing a crime with no remorse. A few years ago some other teens went on a "destruction spree" and broke into a home that was empty so that they could destroy it and destroy it they did for hours. And yep, you guessed it, they videotaped the whole thing so that they could eventually post it online. In this modern day of the YouTube and MySpace generation few things are taboo. This generation thinks it's "cool" to act like idiots and then post it on the Internet for all to see. What they do is not really important just as long as someone sees them doing it. That's where the notoriety comes in. But can you really blame them? After all how long have we as adults been watching "reality" TV? It's not enough that we worry about OUR daily trials and tribulations we now have to watch OTHER people's lives as well. Have you seen some of these shows? Big Brother....really? How interesting can it be to watch people just live their daily lives day in and day out? It must be VERY interesting since so many are watching it. What about Real World, The Bachelor, Survivor, The Amazing Race or the Real Housewives of Orange County and the list goes on and on and on and on. Are we so bored with our own lives that we have to tune in to watch other people's lives as well? Now don't get me wrong, I in now way condone this stupidity and I think they should all be held accountable for their actions. However, the problem I see is this: no matter what the situation may be, once you bring in a camera the whole perspective changes. People begin to act differently, they "play" to the camera. Everyone wants to be famous and wants as many people as possible to know their names. The prospect of cashing in on that fame is the big draw. If there is a way for us to make money by just being ourselves then why not? It's not harming anyone is it? Well yes and that is my concern. How far will we push this before we push too far? Have you seen The Moment of Truth? The game show where you get to answer some VERY personal questions and then see if a lie detector agrees with your answer. The more you answer correct the more money you win. I have watched this only once and once was enough. I was amazed at how far some people would go just to be, you guessed it, famous. They would ruin their marriages, destroy friendships or family relationships all for the prospect of money and fame. At what point though do we start paying to watch people die? When does it become the Colosseum of Roman times and we start paying to watch the bloodsport unfold? Will we know when we have crossed that line? Have we crossed it already? As this trend continues I predict that the violence, cold-heartedness and outright criminal behavior will increase until something is done to regulate it. When does "free speech" cross the line and become criminal? Just because someone refers to it as art is it? There are quite a few unanswered questions as you can see and lately there haven't been any answers. So then let me put the question to you: What would you be willing to do for the chance to become famous?