What we should really care about ...

So many things I want to do become irrelevant, when I watch the news about Japan and Libya on TV. I worry about friends I have in dangerous parts of the world , but there is not much I can do. So, as a means of distraction, I switch to another channel and hit "Germany's Next Top Model",  a "casting show" (as they are called in German) hosted by Heidi Klum.

I must admit, I stayed glued to the screen until the end. What am I worrying about, I ask myself, when there are REAL PROBLEMS ... such as if you are wearing the right dress or shoes while walking along the catwalk ? Ahh,  walking .... I don't know how I have survived more than 50 years with my unsexy and uninspirational walk. It is a wonder anybody talks to me ! And the bitch fights: a girl is not chosen at once as a flat mate - tears, long discussions. One girl is praised by presenter and photographer... jealousy.

Yes, I know. These shows are not about finding talents, they are about entertainment. The candidates are used by the production company and put into certain situations, so that in the end something interesting, shocking and entertaining can be shown. How many girls enter a competition like this with high hopes and dreams and in the end are simply exploited?

Commercial TV is about selling advertising time. The adverts that interrupt the programme  are, of course, about beauty products. Again I am fascinated by what I need and have not got . When I realized that my armpits will never be "beautiful", because I am using the wrong deodorant, I lost all hope that I will ever be able to catch up...

Demostrations against nuclear power ? Peace walks ?  Protecting the environment, saving the earth ? Equal pay for men and women ? Human rights ? People dying ?  Who is interested in that ? 

Who wants us not to be interested ?

Tagesschau online (German news programme)