Post 10/15/06

Week 5: Papparazzi

Hmm... I have some strong opinions on this one.


I have some cousins who are very much in the public eye. Because of that, every single aspect of their lives seems to be open for discussion, misrepresentation, photographing, twisting and just plain intruding upon.


I realize that everyone has a job. I also realize that these people who take photographs need to make a living too and that there is a morbid need for "dirt" in our society. The "rags" such as The Star and The National Enquirer etc exist because our society as a whole loves gossip. Not conversation about what's really happening in someone's life but "Let's see what kind of controversy can we stir up because we can" kind of stuff.


I don't want to learn about someone's life through a rag. If that's how our "role models and Hollywood Icons" are to be unfairly represented then what's the point. You can't believe what you're reading anyhow.


Further, to capture pictures of say, a celebrity who has just helped a woman on the street who has dropped an arm load of packages will get snapped and the headline will read "Mystery Woman - So Who's SO AND SO Secretly Dating Now?" It's crap. It's invasive, it's intrusive, it's a total misrepresentation of that person and everyone knows it. And yet, the morbid facination continues with the gossip and the whispers and the talk. It ruin marriages, it ruins friendships, it ruins lives.


Not to mention, the articles wouldn't be printable without the photograph which wouldn't be possible if those *bleep* photographers weren't throwing themselves in the paths of said celebrities and role models. Constantly hounding them for a picture, tailing them like cheap detectives ready to sell their souls for "the million dollar picture" depending on who's on the "hot" list this week. It's disgusting how these people stalk the people in the public eye. It's deplorable how we have to photograph people and write all the conjecture about what's really going on in the photo.


How they chase them in their cars, how they shoot from zoom lenses hidden in bushes just on the outside of the person's property so they can't be arrested for trespassing. How they sit in wait at the end of the driveways. How they follow them where ever they go. Circling like vultures or pirahna waiting for something on which to feed.


I wonder how many of them would appreciate someone tailing their every move, reporting every single conversation they have, taking photographs that can be made into something dirty and wrong. How would they feel if their privacy was completely removed, that the simple hug given to a neighbor in mourning would turn in to a lurid and torrid affair in a matter of seconds.


I don't think they stop to think about that. I think the only thing the papparazzi thinks about is the paycheck. The search for the million dollar pay off. It could be the thrill of the search, the thrill of the stir THEIR picture can cause. The feeding of the frenzy.


I think it's disgusting...