Damn you, paparazzo!

[vovat]

Just recently, I heard a brief NPR segment on paparazzi. They had a guy on there who argued that becoming famous, whether by choice or not, essentially means you've agreed to give up your rights to privacy. When questioned about why it should be okay to take pictures of celebrities without their consent, he mentioned how mainstream newspapers are constantly printing pictures of starving kids and Iraqi war widows, and THEY certainly didn't give permission for this. This is true, but isn't this two-wrongs-make-a-right style rationalization? He did make a somewhat valid point when he said that, for all their complaining about the paparazzi, many celebrities are more than willing to use them when it suits their purposes. I tend to think that the celebrities who are most attractive to photographers are often the ones who willingly expose many details of their personal lives. I mean, it IS possible to be famous and relatively obscure, I should think. I think there's some exaggeration as to just how bad the problem is, but the whole "it's perfectly acceptable to take pictures of celebrities when they're shopping and eating at restaurants" mentality goes too far. There's exaggeration on both sides, I suppose. Really, I'd say the paparazzi are a product of the obsession with the minutiae of celebrities' lives that many people (perhaps Americans in particular) have. I don't know. When I enjoy a person's work, I do like to find out biographical details about them, but I don't really get the full-fledged celebrity obsession that pervades our culture. I mean, they're just people, right?

In other news, the final book in the Seven Blue Mountains of Oz trilogy has been released by Tails of the Cowardly Lion and Friends. I should pick that up at some point in the near future. (Well, I guess I won't literally pick it up, since their books generally aren't available in stores. I'll send away for it.)

Comments

[3x1minus1.livejournal.com]

Really, I'd say the paparazzi are a product of the obsession with the minutiae of celebrities' lives that many people (perhaps Americans in particular)

i've heard that it's much worse in the u.k., believe it or not (you would think americans have the lock on something as invasive and obnoxious as papparazzi, heh).

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I guess the British royal family, as they are today, are kind of the ultimate in celebrities who don't really do much of anything, and the ultimate in targets for the paparazzi. I know there was that whole thing with Princess Diana's death, but I never really knew the details with that.