THE MAGAZINE People, which should never make as much money as they do selling these guides to movie star’s lives. In my opinion, that’s all this magazine is. They make their money intruding on the lives of the famous and well-known, write up little articles featuring pictures that they snapped here and there, and publishing them as a magazine. Yes, People does include stories on real-life people that have an important story to tell. But how often is that? Maybe one story per magazine, which in my opinion is only done so that the magazine isn’t labeled as trash, like the National Enquirer. People can count themselves as being one step above those trash magazines due to these scattered stories about “real” people.
January through October issues
A few main topics in every People magazine:
Mailbag Star Tracks Picks and Pans Insider Passages Style Watch Chatter
The Mailbag page includes letters from the readers of People magazine. This is your chance to speak out about something that you saw in a previous issue that you liked or disliked. Star Tracks and Insider gives you the latest news on the celebrities and will most likely contain photos snapped knowingly or unknowingly. These photos catch celebs at the opportune or least opportune moment and usually include a short caption that tells what the celeb is doing. I have to admit that the Style Watch section is my favorite part because I get to see the latest fashions that the celebrities are wearing. But I am more interested in the clothing themselves than the celebrities featured wearing them! Picks and Pans is another favorite section of mine. Here, I get the latest books and movies offerings. I enjoy the informational reviews given here that can help me decide whether or not to see the movie or purchase the book. My only regret about this section is that it is so short. The Passages section offers you the latest up-to-date celeb news. Who is having a baby? Who is getting married or engaged? Who has died? Who is suing whom? Again, more information that I didn’t need to know about someone that I do not know. And celebs thoughts on certain subjects in the Chatter sections is usually more than I need to know or not useful to me in the least.
These issues main focus are, of course, movie stars, other well-known people, and the royal families. We deal with Prince Harry and his drinking/drug problem, the death of Carol Burnett’s daughter, Greta Van Susteren’s plastic surgery story, the families of some of the celebrities, Julia Robert’s single life and then her secret marriage later on, Rosie’s coming out, Jennifer and Ben’s romance, and then Brittany’s story. Most of the time, found myself saying, “who cares!”? Do I really care that Jennifer and Ben are having a great love affair? Or that Brittany Spears is taking some time off? Or that some newswoman had plastic surgery? No, I really do not care! Most of the time, I found myself just aimlessly flipping through the magazine to get through these nosy stories. I mean, why would I really care that Chelsea Clinton finally got a makeover and doesn’t look like a frizzy haired teenager anymore?
People does try to include some good stories to save face for all of the other trash that they publish. In January, they featured an article on Lisa Beamer, a 9/11 widow, and her new baby and a short story on the death of Dave Thomas. And yet another story about all of the father-less babies that were born after 9/11 in a February issue. This cover story was actually very touching to read, about the lives and hopes of the families left without fathers because of the attack on the Trade Towers. In a February issue, People featured diet success stories, from actual non-famous people. I thought that this kind of story was odd for People, but never the less enjoyed the change because it was something that related to ordinary people and not celebrities. A few other articles that I enjoyed throughout the first couple issues of the year were the one’s relating to the Olympics. I am not really a huge fan of the games, and I very rarely watch them, but it is good to know that I can get up to date information on the games and hopefuls. I also passed these issues on to my mother because a lot of them focused on the figure skaters, and she never misses any of the figure skating performances. She especially enjoyed the story on Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, the Canadian figure skating couple that one the Olympic gold. She secretly favors them! Another story that I particularly enjoyed was in one of the March issues and featured Michael J. Fox and his wife Tracy Pollan. This article discusses Fox, his memoir that was recently published, and his journey through life with Parkinson’s disease.
During the summer months we were treated to such (insert sarcasm) interesting stories, such as information on the American Idol group and the budding romance (?) between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. Oh Boy! Whoop dee doo!
Another thing that People includes between the covers are the latest hot book releases, the hottest TV series, and the upcoming TV specials that are scheduled. Fashion do’s and fashion no no’s is actually a pretty hysterical section. Some of the outfits that these stars wear are just hilarious. They might as well have gone naked! A star-studded crossword puzzle is located near the end of the magazine for those interested.
Another thing that is included in all magazine that People does not fail to have is the numerous advertisements. Granted, People does not usually have as many as other magazines that I can think of, but they have quite enough to fill the issues. You have everything from toothpaste, yogurt, and candy bars to car, McDonald’s and snack advertisements. There are also some new movie advertisements every once in awhile. And they never fail to advertise their own magazines. I cannot stand it when there are subscription cards stuck in between the pages of the magazine and fall out of it continually. And People is one magazine that does this.
SUBSCRIPTIONS People magazine is published every week. There are a few times a year that I received a special issue or a double issue also. You have two options when subscribing. You can purchase the magazine for 6 months for the price of $2.19 an issue, which would total to $56.94. Your 1-year subscription would be $2.09 an issue, totaling to $108.68. I have no idea if People rounds this figure or if they just bill the exact total because I did not have to pay for my subscription. You obviously save a little money if you use the yearly subscription offer instead of the 6 months.
The stand price for People is $3.29 per issue. So if you are one of those people that cannot stay away from this magazine and find yourself picking it up while in the store, I would recommend you use the subscription method instead, because you will be saving yourself quite a bit of money.
MY THOUGHTS
Well, my subscription actually started last year but I only began to save my copies beginning in January. I received 4 issues a month and just finished reading my last issue last week. Am I happy enough with the magazine to pay the fee to continue? Absolutely not. I would never waste my money on a magazine like this. While most people do enjoy reading about celebrities and their lives’, it is not a personal goal of mine to know what Jennifer Lopez is doing or what kind of trouble Prince Harry has gotten himself into now. It is not crucial to my life to know about the lives’ of those that are famous.
The only reason that I subscribed to this magazine in the first place was because I was offered a free one-year subscription from one of my credit card companies. I would never actually pay the subscription price out of my pocket. Not because I am cheap. But because I simply do not need to have the magazine and would rather be spending any spare time reading a book instead. Much more stimulation to the brain that way! And, this magazine is actually quite expensive to begin with.
The main focus in my life is not to know every step a celebrity makes, so this magazine does nothing for me. Maybe if I had the time or was just plain interested in celebrity life, I would have no problem spending my money on this magazine. But reading about the daily lives of people that I have never met is not on the top of my priority list. Like I mentioned earlier, there are a few redeeming qualities to this otherwise celebrity trash magazine, but there is not enough to get me to spend my money on another subscription.
There is not a lot to this magazine besides the occasional “real” person story and the few sections that I enjoy, like the Style Watch and Picks and Pans section. These sections I can relate to because I am interested in the latest fashions, books, and movies. The other parts of this magazine are just loaded with gossip of people that I do not know and never will know.
Thus, I cannot recommend this magazine unless you are really interested in these kinds of things. If you are, go for it because most of the stories are most likely true accounts, unlike the National Enquirer. If not, pass it by.
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