Beauty and the Beast

Recently in the news (a very loose definition of the word, both news and celebrity) celebrity blogger Perez Hilton was afforded the opportunity to judge and ask a question of the contestants in the Miss USA pageant. Well known to most by now he asked the question of Miss California if her state should follow suit and allow gay marriage. I do not have an issue with the question, it is valid in the quest for the title. I do however take issue with 'Mr' Hilton.

Although I do not watch pageants I know what they are. They are a blend of American pseudo-culture linking beauty pageants of the past with celebrity focus. It may be the only way to keep them alive. Unfortunately 'celebrities' such as Perez Hilton have a role. His question although valid shows he brought a personal agenda with his appearance. His question asked, he did not like the answer.

The setup couldn't have been more conducive. Miss California's home state is possibly the most liberal in the nation and home to such culture busting legislation. I assume he was hoping for a pageant-neutral, politically correct answer. Carrie Prejean, Miss California threw his agenda right back in his face and gave an answer that upheld her traditional Christian values. Mr. Hilton was not pleased and it showed. Many believe her answer cost her the title of Miss USA. The next day Mr. Hilton took it upon himself to post the hostile reactions to Ms. Prejean on his blog. It was the weak and cowardly thing to do. Several of the other judges and benefactors spoke out condemning her answer thus exposing the contest for what it really is, a forum for others to pat themselves on the back for promoting political correctness. They should be applauding her for standing up for what she believes in and not backing down in the face of other's opinions.

I suppose the producers of the pageant are happy with all the publicity. Rarely are such shows in the news for more than a day announcing the winner and then never seeing them again until they hand over their crown the following year. If they wanted to keep things in the news Ms. Pajean would have been their best opportunity.

Do you know the name of the actual winner? I don't but I know she's from North Carolina. What does that say about your product?