Vindicating Jealousy

By now you must have been familiar with Marcella Zelayanti’s story. She has given a new meaning to the expression ‘Femme Fatale’. That is: a woman who will send thugs when her wish doesn’t materialize. I always love to see a woman who can stand for her principle. Hey, money is money you know. But miss Zelayanti has taken it a bit too far. From now on be very careful with your date and make sure it’s still alright with her to split the bill sometimes…

Anyway, in the those past few weeks the media has bombarded us with miss Zelayanti’s story. Sometimes take the side of the victim, another day the opposite. It’s perplexing to see the staggering amount of attention given to this case. But after some moments I can understand why the media behave in such way: there’s demand and here’s supply. Media at the end is merely reacting to the basic law of demand and supply.

The question is why so much demand? Come to think of it miss Zelayanti is not the first—certainly will not be the last—public figure whose scandalous affair has drawn so much interest. In fact, any scandal involving celebrities gets pretty much high public’s attention, the racier the better. Remember Ahmad Albar, Marshia etc.

I think this is because deep down we do like to see other people—in politically correct terms—fare less favourably than they used to. That feeling is especially accentuated towards those we consider far exceeding us in certain social indicators. Those in show biz industries, with their snobbish life style, apparent lack of hard work, sometimes limited talent and yet propelled solely by their beautiful appearance manage to reach the apex of stardom, are particularly prone to such a feeling.

This hypothesis is actually supported by a research, but don’t quote me on this as I can’t find where I actually read the article. In this study a group of white collar workers were asked: do you feel better off when (a) you are paid $70,000 and your colleagues are paid less than you or (b) you are paid $80,000 and your colleagues are paid more than you. The majority answers (a) . This shows that happiness can not be achieved in isolation. Instead, comparison with others plays an important role in how most people see how they fare. Rather than having others richer than us, we’d prefer to be slightly poorer but on top of the pack. In lay man terms: jealousy is vindicated.

Now it comes to the message for the media: don’t hesitate. Bad news about celebrities shows that they are mortals too. It shows that not everything alright up there and this thought somehow appease that powerless feeling in being a victim of this life’s great injustice—oh that sinking feeling. Hence, send your snooping paparazzi and your nosy reporters, give us the news and I don’t mean the good news—I want the hardcore! And since infotainment is always a good business, don’t you feel good reaping the money while servicing the community at the same time?

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