The Rise of the Idiot

Scary Stuff, The Focus – January 18th, 2008 by Kristen

Corey Delaney Worthington is a very naughty boy. Normally the kid who throws a massive party whilst his parents are away and gets busted, is probably grounded for a few months and put on permanent washing up duty. But in a world where a guy-linered teen can sit in a closet and cry for Britney and not only rack up millions of internet hits to his You-Tube site, but be offered his own reality TV show, Corey has become an international celebrity.

Of course appearing on A Current Affair and commercial FM radio doesn’t always mean you are actually famous (pls take note all you Big Brother contestants pushing to the front of nightclub queues). But in Corey’s case, the 304,000 google hits on his name, and the front page position on the Telegraph and numerous column inches in various metropolitan newspapers indicate that whilst possibly Corey is enjoying the standard 15 minutes, those minutes are being widely watched.

So what is the appeal of a suburban teen poseur whose infamy normally will be limited to schoolyard gossip? In our Myspace and Facebook times Corey is a hero to the exhibitionist masses who really believe their earnest mirror shot pouts will create for them an adoring online public. Reality TV and social networking websites tell us that we too can be famous if we let it all hang out for all to see.

Our Corey takes that a little further with a naughty boy twist - hiding behind the sunnies that are the epitome of his fluoro tribe. He enraged all the good ACA viewers with his refusal to take his medicine and admit that yes, he has been naughty and really did flaunt all the rules for respecting your elders. As Bart Simpson once said “I didn’t do it”.

I have no real admiration for the rude little bugger. But the media and online frenzy that surrounds him is fascinating as example of the culture of reality TV morons, Myspace posturings and the famewhores who fulfill the tabloids constant desire for trash. It is a culture that worships the idiot, and Corey is just another example of a world seeking titillation rather than inspiration.

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Corey Delaney, Current Affairs Prorgams, Facebook, Famewhores, Idiot Culture, Myspace, Reality TV, Trash Culture, You-Tube

2 responses to “The Rise of the Idiot”

1. Don

   January 19th, 2008 at 10:11 am

   Hey Kristen,

   I must say, when I saw the YouTube clip of the

   “A Current Affair” interview with Leila McKinnon, I had to crack up.

   Her Mock Outrage, and her lazy inept attempt to create melodrama was brushed aside by this wily teenager…

   For Once she got played…and it was very very Funny…

2. Kristen

   January 20th, 2008 at 7:11 am

   Yeah, he’s pretty savvy. I am torn between admiring his subversion of a culture that wants to condemn him and the hyped mass media response of a kid that held a killer party. What is interesting is the media about the media … articles which exclaim over the number of hits / blogs / major news sites which are covering it. It’s a media frenzy over a media frenzy, and we are a part of it.

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