Could Ashton Kutcher be the next Aaron Spelling? Though his resume doesn’t compare to the late television producer’s genius, he may be on his way with his latest venture, “Pop Fiction.”
Kutcher already impressed television viewers with MTV’s “Punk’d,” a show that saw Kutcher and his friends playing pranks on celebrities. Then he wowed critics with his social experiment, “Beauty and the Geek” on The CW network, which (until this season) featured dim-witted babes and socially challenged nerds teaming up and learning from each other.
Kutcher’s newest effort, E!’s “Pop Fiction,” targets paparazzi and gullible media outlets by having celebrities stage scenes, prompting the media to report it as fact. The celebrity later reveals that it was all “Pop Fiction.”
The first episode showed Paris Hilton cavorting with a robed shaman and telling reporters that the religious guru had changed her life. She even gave a diamond necklace to a complete stranger at the shaman’s request. TMZ, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle all reported the story, wondering if Hilton had found spirituality. But at the end of the show’s clip, Hilton delivered the series’ tagline, “Is it real or is it pop fiction?” prompting the paparazzi to realize they’d been duped. The “shaman” was actor Maxie Santillan Jr., who has appeared on various television shows such as “My Name is Earl.”
Did you hear about Avril Lavigne being pregnant? How about Eva Longoria cheating on husband Tony Parker with “Saved By the Bell” and Bayside High alum Mario Lopez? Guess what? It’s all pop fiction.
We applaud the show for forcing journalistic integrity on the normally shady tabloid journalists. This particular breed of journalism is constantly jumping to conclusions and spreading rumors, and “Pop Fiction” is a fun and entertaining way of calling the media on its faults.
“Pop Fiction” is also a genius way for celebrities to take out their seemingly never-ending frustrations with the paparazzi in a positive way. Instead of throwing a latte at a cameraman or running over a reporter with a Bentley, they’re making the tabloids look stupid.
In a world where Britney Spears can’t make a move without it being documented and the American public knows the names of J.Lo’s kids before she does, it’s refreshing to be reminded that we can’t always believe what we see or hear.
