Party Crashers

This Thanksgiving weekend, an entirely different meal dominated holiday conversation across the nation. President Barack Obama’s first state dinner, held on Nov. 24, proved eventful not because of its guest list of notable dignitaries and celebrities, but due to the presence of uninvited attendees Michaele and Tareq Salahi. These “gatecrashers” managed to infiltrate the private event allegedly in hopes of securing a place in reality television. Their actions reveal our culture’s peculiar and unfortunate fixation with celebrity status and Americans’ desire to achieve it by whatever means necessary.

Michaele Salahi, who is currently striving to become one of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of D.C.,” likely pulled the stunt in order to garner media attention and increase her chance of being chosen for the television show. It seems like this pair of Virginia socialites with a (deservedly) unflattering reputation wanted to attract the spotlight without doing anything to truly merit it. Their tactics—including posting photos of the event on Facebook—reveal as much.

In the past, one gained national recognition for a reason—due to an accomplishment, contribution, or ability. Now, however, celebrity has become an end in and of itself—reality television creates cultural icons who are famous for nothing other than their own celebrity. Consequently, people seek prominence to gain more prominence, pulling stunts they think could land them a reality-television-show role. This obsession with fame for fame’s sake reflects a strange trend in American culture. While we recognize that the desire for prominence is nothing new, the new media machine that creates stars out of individuals with nothing noteworthy about them creates new temptations to take whatever means necessary to make this desire a reality.

Ultimately, the Salahis’ intentions—while disturbing—proved harmless, and it is fortunate that their silly antics exposed security flaws without threatening the president’s safety. In essence, the gatecrashers prevented anyone with more sinister plans from taking advantage of loopholes. Now, the White House can address the issues with no real harm done. That being said, this incident need not lead to an overreaction within the Secret Service. While the president’s safety is of the utmost importance, we hope that he remains accessible to the American people. The Salahis’ strange claim to fame should not prevent Obama from shaking hands with citizens across the country. It just tells us something interesting about what fame means in modern America.