Sydney Life

Is it just me, or is looking at pictures of Vivienne and Knox more exciting than my media readings?

Since buying New Idea this morning I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything but the Brangelina brood. Media Relations just can’t compete with the pictures of this beautiful family, and my borderline obsession with them. I find Angelina Jolie fascinating and Shiloh is simply the most beautiful child ever created (if you are living under a rock and haven;t yet seen the pics go to: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20216352,00.html).

A few hours ago I searched the internet for any information I did not yet know about the birth of the twins. I came across an article about the different approaches celebrities take when dealing with the paparazzi after having babies.

I found it fascinating - a serious ethical dilemma. Should the paparazzi profit by nabbing exclusive pictures of your child or is it better to profit yourself be selling pictures?

And as I asked myself this question I realised the beautiful irony of my procrastination.

In avoiding my media relations reading I had inadvertently found myself reading an article about how celebrities manage the media.

And this my friends is the reason why I love being an arts student - even my procrastination has a point!

If, like me, you love magazines, watching bad reality tv, obsessing over teen tv dramas and soaking up any celebrity gossip you can get your hands on, then you should definitely consider an arts degree at Sydney uni.

It isn’t all Austen and Aristotle, Fibonacci and Foucault. There are actually a lot of university subjects that deal with issues in popular culture.

Throughout my time at uni I have written essays on: Shrek; Heroes; an advertisement for WHO magazine; a Robin William’s Film; and Paris Hilton.

This year I get to spend a semester in Cultural Theory (a Gender Studies subject) talking about V for Vendetta and Pirates of the Caribbean. And last week, during a lecture on Jane Austen, I heard about Bridget Jones’ Diary and the Sex and the City Movie.

I was very excited to discover that there is as much a place at university for religious readers of OK magazines, as there is for people who read Ulysses and Sylvia Plath.

Now if only I can find a subject that helps me justify the copious hours I spend watching Project Runway and Gossip Girl…..