Friday, July 25, 2008

My Hands Just Turned Purple

The gullibility rating of the Internet hit a new high yesterday when a highly reliable (sorry if the sarcasm dripped onto your computer screen) source of entertainment news reported that Katie Holmes' hands had turned purple. Don't laugh. Someone did actually report that and several "news" (that may not be the right word, if you can think of a better one then please tell me in the comments) sites picked it up and began repeating it, in the usual mindless fashion of news sites, as if it were true.

The "source" of this nonsense? A paparazzi pic that, if you zoomed in on it, made her hand look a bit dark. Perhaps a shadow? - No way. Let's take the much more logical explanation: her hands have turned purple.

Freedom of speech is threatened when it is abused like this. What is its value when any jerk can make up some news story because he needs to attract eyeballs?

That people believed such nonsense is also scary. Is the general public so gullible? I hope not. What do you think?

BTW, if you are interested, here are some other shots of her hands taken on the same day: What's wrong with Katie Holmes' Hands?. Gee, I wonder why the reporters never looked at these? I guess they didn't want to spoil a perfectly good story by injecting some pesky truth into it.

2 comments:

Jim Gatos said...

Grahame, I am making a joke here;

The only thing I see wrong with Katie's hands are that they seem disproportionally muscular. Perhaps that's how she has "the upper hand" in her marriage with Cruise..

Just kidding,
Jim

Julia said...

Her hands look like... wait for it... HANDS. My God! How DARE her hands look like regular old hands?! Why can't she be more interesting?! I have to say, that "news" story is an enormous stretch.