DIVA?

The word diva used to really mean ‘something.”  Now it’s a word used among the commoners for themselves.  No accomplishments necessary, just being born to celebrity parents or money will do.  Just being born will do.

When I was a youngster a diva was usually entering middle age because it took that long to develop the skills necessary to achieve the appellation.  I think of Marilyn Horne, Dame Joan Southerland and our own Beverly Sills.  Continued voice training, learning long operas, and several languages, while working their way up in a crowded field filled with temperaments.  We admired accomplishment.

What do people admire now days?  Almost anything, including a show called jackass which elevated people for being stupid.  We admire mouthy athletes with double digit I.Q.’s and some even make hero’s out of criminals and idiots who are in and out of rehab all of their lives. 

What in the hell ever happened to accomplishment?