The Vacuous Star for Our Vacuous Times

I don't consider myself one who gets caught up in superstar hype. Brangelina lived in NOLA for a while. The city went crazy when there were "sitings." These people, despite their inflated egos, are still people. What stirs this on you are probably thinking? Lebron James. He's supposedly one of the greatest ever. Maybe so, maybe not. As of late, he and his "team" (which sounds vaguely like the cultish teams from Twilight) are creating hype over his free-agency. Who wants Lebron? Who wants the King? Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes a fantastic article challenging Lebron's ego, and the ridiculousness of such hype over a guy who can get a ball in a hoop really well, reeeeaaaalllly well. He calls Lebron "the vacuous star for our vacuous times."

Now I'm not a daily reader of sports journalism, but it's not the norm that social commentary enters into it. When it does, it must be big and obvious. Vacuous times is a scathing statement about today. This culture that is promoted is empty and meaningless. It holds a facade of power while wielding nothing more than a spitball's worth of actual strength. It is showy, individualistic, and self-promoting while having for its success, no ring, no gold, no championship, nothing that holds lasting esteem. It's a neon light that flashes one second and is dark the next. It attracts the eye but ultimately leaves the beholder with nothing more than a vacuous negative of the light, which has no real existence but only rather a quick imprint on the mind.

Maybe it's time we begin to refill the vacuum with life and meaning and something lasting. It's time we show the world the sun, which does not blink and go away but is lasting (much longer than all our lifetimes combined). Instead of building unsatisfying hype, let us help to promote a promise, "I will be with always, until the end of time."