As Charlotte Allen notes below, a healthy disgust for Paris Hilton is indeed a sign of some "lingering cultural sanity."
But it's worth noting that the contempt Hilton elicits isn't universal. According to a 2005 survey conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, Paris Hilton is one of the top five celebrities teen girls envy most. That's too bad -- because teen girls are the demographic that would seem most susceptible to Hilton's influence.
Certainly, just because girls envy Paris Hilton doesn't necessarily mean they admire her -- but it certainly doesn't suggest that they despise her, either. Perhaps the poll results suggest that either teen girls are coming to believe that notoriety in itself is a positive (even if it derives from silly, unwholesome behavior), or else they simply don't share the larger culture's disdain for the persona of Paris Hilton. Whatever the reason, it's a result that should concern parents at least mildly -- along with everyone who cares about young girls.
