Does being dumb pay off?

Codi Bullard, staff writer

“ Is this fish or chicken? What I am eating? I know it’s tuna, but why does it say Chicken of the Sea?”

These questions could go down in history as two of the dumbest questions every asked on national television. They were asked by none other than Jessica Simpson, who is not only known for her powerful voice and good looks, but also her ignorance.

Exactly how dumb is Jessica? In my opinion she may be an airhead, but one who knows when being “unintelligent” pays off, literally. After asking the above questions on her hit MTV reality show “Newlyweds” Simpson managed to make a few bucks with endorsements by cracking jokes at her expense and airhead nature. She did a couple of popular advertisements for Dominos and Icebreakers. In both, she acted as a ditz, saying things like “ Buffaloes really do have wings!” for an advertisement for buffalo wings and “ So, um is it liquid or ice?’ for Icebreakers new breath mint liquid ice. She was able to turn an on camera airhead moment into a money- making event.

Simpson is not the only celebrity who has used her intellectual weaknesses to gain fame and fortune.  Another is the famous, ditzy mother of two and talk show host Kelly Ripa. She went from playing a role on a soap opera to getting a job with Regis Philbin. If you have ever watched the TV morning show, Regis and Kelly, it is almost a hands- down vote that Ripa is not the smartest woman in Hollywood. However, she has managed to take her spunky self and get a role on the show Faith and Hope. On the show, she plays a shallow and fading actress who recently got killed off of a soap opera. Her character’s personality on the show is similar to her own.

Does society actually enjoy stupidity? Yes. Think about all the television shows that are based on something simple and, well, just plain dumb. Some of the shows include MTV’s “Viva Labam”, which features a group of guys who participate in a variety of ridiculous stunts and play jokes on each other. Another is Comedy Central’s show  “Crank Yankers”, with puppets that prank call different businesses and people. Both shows are based on dumb events, yet they are both very popular.

Acting like idiots and getting paid for it does not only happen on cable but also in the movies. One of the all- time funniest movies is “Dumb and Dumber”.  Some of the events and statements in the movie are so unintelligent, but it makes you laugh because the thought of someone being that stupid is almost incomprehensible. There is a similar situation with the newly- released movie “Napoleon Dynamite”, in which some of the characters are so stupid it makes the viewer laugh because it is hard to comprehend such behavior.

So, are celebrities such as Simpson and Ripa as a stupid as they appear? Honestly, I believe that even though both are a little on the ditzy side, they do not only know how to survive in Hollywood, but what appeals to society as well. They may have not given themselves good intellectual names, but they did get their name out there, which is what really matters in showbiz!

So, the next time you do or say something without thinking, don’t fret, because even those in Hollywood are guilty!