Okay, I'll ask...

It's like I turned my back and pop culture sprung a fast one on me. So I'll ask - what the heck did Paris Hilton do to deserve being, well, EVERYWHERE?

I must have missed something. She did the Simple Life on Fox, a reality show whose promos convinced me to never even accidentally allow my remote to stop on the network during that time period. But the impression I get is she was "known" before that. As far as I can tell, she ain't a singer. She isn't an actress, either. In fact, I don't think I've heard her say word one in an interview yet. Every time I've seen her in televised footage on VH1 or whatever, she's strutting on a red carpet in a evening gown with that "I'm-too-good-for-this-red-carpet" look on her face. But now she's on the cover of every magazine, every tabloid, and now, for pete's sake, apparently she has MEMOIRS coming out. MEMOIRS OF WHAT?

I mean, Britney, Jessica and so forth at least have pseudo-credibility as pop culture figures because of their musical careers. Best that I can tell, Paris is a figure based upon nothing. Yeah, she's hot, but there are a ton of hot women in the world. There has to be more to it than that. Doesn't there?

Any help?