Britney, Lindsay and Scarlett -- Can Anti-Paparazzi Laws Protect Our Endangered Starlets?
Posted by Kraig Baker
The LA Times reported another Paparazzi incident today. This time Scarlett Johansson hit a car carrying a family while trying to elude paparazzi who followed her home. Last month someone from Britney Spears' house shot a paparazzi with a pellet gun. Two months ago a celebrity photographer rammed Lindsay Lohan's car. With the voracious American appetite for all things celebrity and the intense competition among celebrity magazines, it's inevitable that we will have additional incidents. More to the point from a privacy perspective, look for additional anti-paparazzi legislation in California and other states within the next year.
It will be interesting to see how broadly this legislation will be drafted. For instance, will it only apply to celebrities or will it apply to the general public? Will it be apply only to photographers or will it extend to those using boom microphones and other intrusive technology? Will it extend to the public taking camera photos of celebrities? This kind of legislation could be the first step to creating zones of privacy in public spaces.
For a report on the Scarlett Johansson incident, click here.
It just hit me today, as I was watching news footage of the minor traffic incident with Paris Hilton, that the news took a small incident and turned it into Paris looking like a spoiled brat. When all anyone in that car was doing was escaping the blinding flashbulbs, and unbelievable crowd gathered around their car. Thank goodness the police saw the situation for what it was and released them without question. How can we try to hold these people accountable for accidents and incidents that are directly caused by others.
I am just an average American citizen and the paparazzi make ME sick. I don't ever see them, nor would I ever want to! I understand that Celebrities are wanting a little of the action, but no one anywhere wants so much of it that they cannot even leave their house, or for some their closet with no windows, without being bombarded by as many as twenty people every second. Privacy IS a guaranteed right for most American citizens, yet I cannot go to a grocery store, or even surf the web without seeing some poor person and all of their SUPPOSED problems, when the only problem I see is the HOUNDS tracking them like a poor fox in a cruel hunt. Half of the stories are bogus, and the other half should not be realized until the people personally involved are willing to share it.
The true tragedy, however, lies in the hands of the millions of Americans that buy the magazines that publish such rubbish. Until our society can recognize that privacy in anyone's life should be respected those hounds will remain. Thank you for listening to my rant, I just hope the situation improves before something tragic happens.
I agree it makes me sick to see these photographers mobing these celebrities and selling them to people for magazines and other things for thousands of dollars. All celebrities are, are regular people like us with successful careers. I definately agree with your statements. 13 year old,
Erin Long
Paparazzi sicken me as well. I would support an ammendment suspending all rights for individuals taking unauthorized photos of anyone. If Britney Spears' body guard snatches a paparazzi's camera and crams it down their malodorous throat, the photographer should have no recourse under the law. The only time law enforcement should be involved is when injury is done by the paparazzi, not to the paparazzi. Publications printing unauthorized pictures should have all their assets seized and liquidated to be put into a fund for the benefit of victims of paparazzi. They should be prohibited from ever publishing another word upon pain of incarceration of all owners, executive officers and editors of the publication. If that doesn't put an end to this dispicable occupation, I don't know what will.
The paparazzi’s right to intrude upon other peoples lives has been taken advantage of and now calls for some form of legislation to restrict how much privacy an American citizen should be given. The idea that there are millions of people drooling over what goes on in other people’s lives and the obsession they have with seeing the rise and fall of celebrities they’ve never even met is a sickening trend within our American culture. There are entire television channels devoted to showing pictures of celebrities and telling the stories of the daily celebrity gossip. Are the lives of Americans really so boring that we must watch the lives of others to be entertained. In my own personal experience, I find it very unattractive when the only topics of conversation someone can bring up with me are just about celebrity gossip or sports. The American media has realized our cultural addiction to these trends and has exploited it. But is it really fair to see these “real” people having their lives handed over to the public without any restrictions what-so-ever in public places. Cameras are allowed to be everywhere these days. Who’s to know what’s going on when a man brings his cell phone in a restroom with a camera installed in it. Public privacy is now beginning to have its boundaries pushed on a more personal level to the general public. The US government must take a stand and form some new policies restricting when you can take pictures of others.
Most of the time like any girl my age I (we) liked to read about how the celebs live life. Oh how it seemed so much better than my life at sometime, and if you can find a person who ,when they were little, didn't wish that someday they'd be the one's on that magazine with the whole world to see. But as I've grown up I've realized the problems with having the spotlight all to yourself. People say that the paparazzi are only doing their job and I agree but is it really worth the chase just so other people can laugh at the other person's mistake? That since their stars they should be perfect, good role models for the younger generation... well let me tell you that NOBODY"S PERFECT! (I'm not a hannah montannah fan just to let you know, y'know the song? never mind if you don't)
But seriously I mean if the people want to open up their personal lives then let them but if you did some research how many couples have broken up because of the stupid people out there who would rather read about someone else's life than enjoy their own? What does someone usually get out of that? That since the stars made a mistake that everyone should look down on them?
Leave them alone, and get a life! Paparazzi (not to diss you or anything but) yea it's okay to be curious it's just the way humans are but is it really okay to chase them down a highway just to get facts (that you may not know to be true) and pics of the stars in their embarrassing moments? So what? Would a paparazzi chase after a some bum on the street just because he's drunk? NO. Would they chase some woman because she was a drug dealer? No. So how does that make it okay to chase a person whose luck in life (most would say turned for the better, get my meaning?) who makes mistake every now and then. Most of the time problems are increased because of the attention...
Would you like to be chase around by the paparazzi every hour of everyday? NO privacy whatsoever, and most of your friends would be fake. I bet that many a times that some celebs would love to be treated like actually normal human beings sometimes. I could go one but I think/hope you get the picture and if you've read the whole thing then...wow :)