Well, that didn't take long.
After serving only three days behind bars, Paris Hilton was released from jail early Thursday, partly due to "medical" reasons — but she has been fitted with an ankle bracelet and must remain confined to her home for 40 days, according to sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
The spokesman wouldn't say what the medical reasons were, citing privacy issues. However,
there have been reports of Paris crying after visits by her therapist and her refusal to eat most of the prison food.
I suppose a potential emotional breakdown might be considered a reason to get out of jail early...if, you know, you throw that whole "jail-as-punishment" thing out the window. But refusing to eat? This is California - I thought starvation was "in" with all the Hollywood It Girls.
So, as a result of her undisclosed medical issues, Paris' "punishment" will now be a whopping 40 days of house confinement. Ah, but what house? Perhaps some crack house on the southside? Nope, her multi-million dollar Beverly Hills mansion. She will have to wear an ankle bracelet for the duration of the confinement, but don't worry - the bracelet will be mink-lined to prevent chafing, and Paris' people are already working on releasing a faux monitoring device as part of her new "Prison Chic" fashion line. It's Hot!
Oh yeah, and those three days she spent in jail? Well, seems like she'll be credited for five days served. Nice.
Hell, is there really any point in being outraged? We all knew there was never going to be any justice in this case. Frankly, I don't know why they even bothered to try Paris, or for that matter charge her in the first place. The whole thing has been a waste of time. All we have done is reinforce in Paris' mind that she literally can get away with anything. Unfortunately, the bar of accountability has been raised so high for her that, in order to see real jail time, she'll probably have to kill someone.
In broad daylight.
On national television.
I was watching Bill O'Reilly the other night. Michelle Malkin was on, and she said that, while Paris deserved to be punished, she didn't deserve the extreme negativity people were pouring on her. Michelle chalked it up to class envy. Now, while I dearly love our Mz. Malkin, I have to disagree with her on that point, at least in my case. I have no problem with the fact Paris is rich. I also have no problem with the fact that she was born into a life of wealth, privilege and opportunity. My problem is that Paris has been able to improve her already favorable situation despite the fact she has absolutely no appreciable talents whatsoever. She can't sing. She can't act. She's uneducated. She's not that attractive. She's condescending and dismissive. And yet, she enjoys a tremendous amount of fame and notoriety because people can't seem to get enough of her. So that's when it hits me. Maybe it's not Paris I hate; maybe it's the society that props her up that's deserving of my scorn.
Has our society become so diminished and jaded the only things that amuse us anymore are these human trainwrecks? How much of what is popular today achieved that popularity because we "love to hate" things? Instead of championing excellence and achievement, we make heroes out of those who suck the most.
When did that get fun?
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