There is a phenomena sweeping the nation. I am not talking about a disease, or an epidemic, or even global warming. Instead I want to bring to your attention a craze that while not new to us, is increasingly becoming a menace to society. What is this alarming trend I am referring to: The Paparazzi!With the birth of magazines like Life and Style, US Weekly, People, OK!, and now even websites like TMZ(Thirty Mile Zone TV & TMZ.COM), X17, PerezHilton, and Hollywood.tv, there has been a resurgence is the search for the "money shot". A picture that will haul in the mega bucks for the lucky photographer that can catch a celebrity "doing something newsworthy" or getting caught in an unflattering position. The obsession with celebrities in our society has driven these photojournalists to jump into traffic, run red lights, hide in bushes, and risk their own lives and the lives of their muses for a photo that will sell for top $.
Why is this a part of popular culture?
Simple. The large number of people who either subscribe to these magazines, visit the websites, and/or watch the programs on television generate revenue for the organizations, employees, and sponsors. These parties, while considered to be in poor taste by some, are idealized by many others and has become its own million-dollar industry. All thanks to our need to have information about the lives of the celebrities and public figures we idolize and look up to as icons. Do you wonder about the lives of your favorite football star, politician, actress, or newsmaker? The Paparazzi make this information available to you and documents its for the magazines and newspapers we purchase. The Paparazzi are a by-product of Popular Culture. Take the example of Princess Diana. It is said that the Paparazzi caused the death of the Princess after chasing her all throughout the streets of Paris. Her death has left a permanent mark on the Popular Culture of an entire generation.
According to HowStuffWorks, "The word paparazzi is derived from a character in the Fellini film 'La Dolce Vita.' The character, a photographer named Paparazzo, reminded Fellini of 'a buzzing insect, hovering, darting, stinging.' Fellini's inspiration for the character was a famous Italian 'street photographer' named Tazio Secchiaroli. Fellini consulted Secchiaroli for research while developing the script for his classic film. Secchiaroli became famous as a photographer when he captured candid photos of the former Egyptian King Farouk turning a table over at a restaurant while in the midst of a rage. On the same night, Secchiaroli also snapped photos of actor Anthony Steele in a public spat with actress Anita Ekberg. These photos started a trend in European publications, moving away from posed promotional shots of celebrities and toward surreptitiously captured candid photos."
The role the Paparazzi play in Popular Culture involves taking pictures of public figures. A public figure is anyone who is considered a celebrity like Ricky Martin, a public official like Al Gore, or private citizen involved in newsworthy incidences like Scott Peterson or O.J. Simpson. These people are legally defined as public figures. Beleive it or not, someone like popular NFL athelete Tom Brady has far fewer rights to privacy that "average joe" citizen.
1 comment:
As long as we continue to be interested in the lives of these people we will continue to fuel the fire of the paparazzi. Celebrities need them to continue their status and stay on the covers of magazines to further their own careers and the media needs celebrities to bring in customers so it is a fine line between stalking and working. Who gets to define that?
When you long to be in the publics eye then you get all the benefits and repercussions of that choice. Yes, they take it too far...but that's the game. There's always other venues for those that want to pursue their talents and stay out of the limelight.
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