The View from the High Horse

On the front cover of today's Indianapolis Star, tucked into the top left (first read) corner was a headline

"Karr won't be charged in JonBenet Slaying."

Now, I'm not that up on the AP Style Guide, but whether this headline is journalisticly kosher isn't my worry. I'm actually slightly sickened to see that "JonBenet" has entered our celebrity single-name pantheon the same as Cher, Madonna, or Britney. Granted, her name is well-known and unique, and I'm hoping her vicious murder didn't spawn a rash of copycat namers. Yet, are we still ready to turn this little girl into a concept? Is she an adjective now? Will future scandalous killings be talked about on E! as being "so JonBenet"? Is she officially just a sequined trope to toss around?

The high price of celebrity must be worth the cost of selling newspapers.