This isn't my usual run-off-the-mill-whatever-the-phrase-is-supposed-to-be Pop Psychology; It's pop, and it's psychology, but today I ain't gonna be discussing fancy terms or weird issues. It's just stuff I'm sure we've all thought of before. I'm just taking it a bit further.

My English teacher mentioned something the other day which stuck in my mind for a while. It goes something like "Mother Teresa would not do well in the Glamour magazine world." I thought about that a lot. Though I know literally close to nothing about her, Mother Teresa has been an inspiration to millions of people everywhere. Now can you actually imagine her getting up in the morning and thinking, hmm, with what Maybeline cosmetics shall I do my nails with today?(Sorry, Maybeline lovers, but it's the only makeup brand that I know of:P)

Confused? I'm talking about, of course, the emphasis that our culture places on looks versus heart.

Look at our world. No, really, look at it. Can you say with absolute, undying certainty that our society places more emphasis on "what really counts" than what it places on what pleases us visually, aesthetically, and physically? We've all heard the whatnot about the starving people in Africa being more important than our own petty interests, but c'mon, do we really listen? Not to tread on anyone's ideals, but there are more important things to obsess ourselves with than who's prettier or has a more beautiful house or who's car is fancier.

Those types of things should be pastimes, not lifestyles.

Take the dramatic industry; Films, musicals, tourshows, etc. I have so much respect for actors, directors, screenwrites, playwrites, the works, I basically like the whole entertainment industry in general. I honestly think they work very hard, just like musicians, at giving us a little joy and along the way grant fulfillment in their own lives. But you throw in the term "Hollywood" or "Broadway" and suddenly all these implications are drawn, all the negativities come to mind. The entire concept of Hollywood is based on glamour and hype; How much money you make, how good you look, how your reputation is doing, all these factors that should really have nothing to do with happiness, morally or physically speaking. Which gives way to even more demoralizing fields of work, of which an obvious example would be tabloids, who basically makes it an occupation to capitalize on this cynical hype, so much as to make blatant lies in order to stir up our innate desire to experience bawdy journalism. We got people who basically gossip for a living, people whose job is to judge someone's hairstyle and fashion sense, who keep tabs on the waist sizes of our favorite objects of desire.

I don't believe you have to be a guy to be able to roll your eyes to high heaven at the idea of such.

We like shiny things. We like pretty people. We like our reality to be glamourous. It's a given. It's arguably necessary for the survival of the human race. It's no surprise that pop culture, pop music can be as successful as it is even with its obvious disadvantages. It's bright. It's shiny. And although I would be the last to say that this should be considered a bad thing, as brightness and shininess tend to bring out the best in people, there comes a point when too much glitter just worsens a persons features(Don't try and figure out my metaphors; You just can't:)). Was there ever a time when pop culture can be just overglamourized and overhyped as to work to its liability? Yes, resoundingly, yes. With the younger generation, even more so.

With something like the WB network, its capitalization on the recent teen craze and its need to market off younger, prettier faces is just too obvious(Ahem ahem, Young Americans...Note to network execs: The whole subtlety thing just doesn't work for you, huh?). Though as compared to the whole "teens are evil and malevolent!" phenomena that went sometime around a decade ago, the WB comes as a breath of fresh air, so most people just let it slide.

Let's face it, media targetted at the younger generation is almost always based on appearance, and almost always a physically appealing appearance. Why is this!? Most professionals and non-professionals alike agree that adolescence and the teenage years are a time for building a stable identity for yourself, but during that time people are most susceptible to the outside world. Because we(assumedly)do not yet have a clear idea of our own interests and pursuits, we turn to the aforementioned shiny objects to please us(We grow out of it though). Also, because adolescence is literally defined as a time when young people sexually mature the most, of course they're gonna throw their sexiest pieces of meat at us when they want our attention. It's a sad concept, but it makes up a lot of what pop culture is, for people of all ages: You get sexy people, your get viewers(Actually, several shows of late have proven that sexy faces aren't the only things that'll keep a show moving. An example would be the late series "Hyperion Bay," which I actually liked, but then it took a noticeable change in tactics, focusing more on sexy sensationalism than drama, and it tanked. Could it be that we are slowly moving away from the hypocritical appearace-based world of modern TV? I don't know whether to be glad or disappointed:P)

1) People like to overglamourize
2) People like their reality to be pretty, bright, and shiny
3) Sex sells

...It is necessary that I ask this question. It's a rather obvious question, in fact. You shoulda seen it coming, though please don't believe that I mean to criticize anyone or lay blame on anything by this following question, just think about it. It's a spin-off of a poll question I saw on *NSYNCworldwide.com.

If they weren't good looking, would you still be a fan?

Forget about the "being-attracted-to-them" thing, we've discerned long ago that *NSYNC does not, they could not attribute their success to sex appeal alone; That's not the point. I'm not talking about liking them, I'm talking about being a fan. Can you honestly, honestly say that the first time you saw them, if *NSYNC did not have any visual appeal, if they were freakin' ugly, that you would still be as heads-over-heels as you are today? That you would still adore them the way that you do?

You might say to me, "Well, it's perfectly common to like a band even if they're not sex gods, in fact that happens more often than not," and I agree. What I'm arguing, though, is this: Visual/sex appeal is a very large part, a very prominent supporting factor of the band known as *NSYNC, and if we took that away, they would be a very different band altogether. Their relationship with fans would take a very different approach.

Maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't be as popular as they are today.

Does *NSYNC sell sex? Oh, h*** yes, that's not even a debatable issue. Do they have to rely on sex to last?...well, that's a tad harder to say(Plus it sounded so wrong...).

By now you're looking at your moniter oddly and somewhat accusingly, thinking, "Waitaminute. You're a guy. You like *NSYNC. Aren't you living proof that *NSYNC doesn't need sex appeal to...appeal?" That's an interesting point. If I asked myself that question, "Would I still be a fan if they weren't good looking," it's true that the answer would be a yes. But you gotta take into other accounts: Do you or do you not agree, that if indeed *NSYNC was not good looking, most likely they would not have made it big? And if they had not made it big, I would never have heard GMHSALMTOY, never have made the distinction separating them and some less positively inclined bands. Even if I were the most open-minded person in the world(Still tryin' to get there:)), if no one else on the planet liked *NSYNC, I seriously doubt that I alone would have the patience to try to get to know them. It's so bad and I know how horrible it makes me sound, but it's true. Yes, it's also true that most everyone, both male and female, "like them for their music," but to speak bluntly, in their line of work the music is not the only factor; There are others. And their physical appeal is a large part of that. It's weird to think that if *NSYNC didn't have visual appeal that they wouldn't last, but I think people should at least consider that, consider this attitude in the industry.

Especially with the attitude we get from a lot of "fans," it makes me even more concerned. Guys, these thoughts don't just occur to me out of the blue...let's see...a while back Justin grew a fro. He joked that it was to see whether or not fans only liked him for his looks...lol Smart man, that. Guess what the response was?...Do you really wanna know, or do I have to remind again just how fickle teenyboppers can be? And of course there's the run-of-the-mill crap in how Chris, Joey, and Lance are not the most popular because they may not be as physically appealing as Justin or JC. Yeah yeah, you can argue that people have different tastes, some people prefer Joey to Justin, but really Justin and JC have the more "aesthetical" male physique, and the undeniable numerical differenciation between JC and Chris's "fans"(I use the term lightly...)show that this does make a difference. It also goes to show that physicality, hype, and glamour really does affect *NSYNC's fanbase. That much is true.

So...what? What am I trying to say here? Should you go and worry your monkeys off because you're concerned that if *NSYNC really wasn't glamourous then they wouldn't be loved? Don't worry too much about that...the fact is that *NSYNC do look the way they do and they are loved. If Joey didn't look the way he does...well, he wouldn't be Joey! He'd be someone else! *NSYNC is *NSYNC, good looks and all coming with the package.
All I'm saying is that there is a level of hypocrisy in dealing with fame that I'm not sure many people take notice of, and that concerns me. It's an enormous annoyance for me, I admit, when those moments arise when *NSYNC is very obviously being played for physical appeal, and I just have to shut my eyes and go take a crap or something 'cause it just bugs me beyond comprehension. For stuff like that, it's not so much the fans as it is the marketting...it's like, "Hot boys! Hot boys! Get your hot boys here!" The guys themselves say that they "try not to think about it," and I can understand why. Its' just a messy part of their business and the things they have to go through, and that I understand. I'm not going to "hate them because their beautiful:)." So there. You can't say I'm jealous, 'cause I said it first! Nya na na na na...

But seriously, with that aside, I really don't think we should worry too much about stuff like this("Um...you say this after a seven paragraph rant about said topic!?" I never said I was stable...). Just accept it as a part of what they do. This doesn't just go for *NSYNC, but for most other celebs as well(Oh my God...did I just use the term "celebs!?" Nooooooo...). But also realize that it is very unrealistic and against what *NSYNC truly stands for. I'm not trying to be negative all of a sudden and point out all these negative aspects associated with *NSYNC, it's just things that should be said. In closure of this topic, know this: If *NSYNC or a lot of other artists were butt-ugly, they'd lose only a few of their "fans"(Once again using the term lightly), but if they made bad music, they'd lose all of their fans. Being glamourous only goes so far...at the end of the day it's the heart that really counts.

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