Paparazzi Gone Wild

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Chase by Paparazzi Yields No Charges

This is getting ridiculous. I don't care how famous a celebrity is, there's no reason for this kind of animal behavior. Poor Reese Witherspoon is just trying to get home from the gym, and these guys hound her off the road and chase her into her home.

This is the kind of stuff you expect from lawless third-world countries where roaming bands of thugs are allowed to harass women on the way to and from the market. It's also eerily like the paparazzi harassment that contributed to Princess Diana's death.

What's even more ridiculous is Frank Griffin's comment that the media, police and prosecutors tend to "blow [such things] out of proportion." That sounds like every trailer park wife beater I've ever seen on COPS. "She's blowing it out of proportion. I only barely touched her, officer." Get real, Frank.

As a responsible member of the celebrity photography corps, what he should have said was that there are irresponsible members of the profession who need to either rein in their behavior or have it reined in for them because it creates a bad name for them all.

I also hold the magazines that buy the "celebrity confrontation" pictures responsible. And I hold everyone who gleefully tunes in to watch it responsible.

I turn it off when it comes on the TV: I'm not interested in the childish antics of losers with nothing better to do than antagonize people more successful than themselves. They'd never try that kind of behavior with a regular citizen: they're too cowardly.

They depend on the star's desire to protect their public image to keep the star from forcing the loud-mouthed idiot to pay any sort of physical price for their behavior. "They won't touch me because it would hurt their career: so I can do anything I want to them." On the other hand, those same morons know that were they to behave that way toward any other citizen, the end result would likely be a black eye and a trip to the local hospital for a few days of rest and relaxation.

Being a fan and being interested in someone's life because they're famous needs to have clear lines drawn around it, and this is an easy call to make: it's clearly over the line of acceptable behavior...by anyone...let alone someone who laughingly uses the word "professional" in their job title.

Shame on the paparazzi who did this, and shame on those who would excuse it in the name of "celebrity"...