Jessica Simpson

A friend and I had a phone debate today. The question: Is Jessica Simpson really not too smart. Or is she so self-aware that the not-so-smart part is actually a put-on. In other words, the dumb thing is just a clever ruse?

Jessica Simpson, for those unaware on such matters, is a star of her own MTV network reality show: "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica." The show has turned into one of the most popular on cable and has been renewed for a second season. Both Jessica and Nick (Nick Lachey) are pop singers. I can't say I'm really familiar with their careers, but I do catch snippets of their show when I'm washing dishes or trimming my fingernails.

Anyway, I argued to my friend my belief that, indeed, Jessica Simpson is not abundant in gray matter. She is abundant in other attributes. She is, for instance, colossally self-absorbed, whiny and really, really blonde - in a stereotypical kind of way, of course. (By the way, for the sake of argument, we ignored Nick this time around. We'll save him for another day.)

So, my friend asserted that Jessica Simpson's not-so-intelligent deal is actually a shrewd act. She knows exactly what she's doing: A successful grab for TV ratings. And that makes her quite smart, he said. She's more popular now as a celebrity, he said, than she ever has been as a pop singer. How smart is that, huh?

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