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"Paparazzo Attacked by a Mob of Surfers:" Is this the Title of a Horror Movie Gone Bad?
The paparazzi seem to always be in the media, and for good reason. They are a part of the media. Celebrities scorn their aggressive behavior, while celebrity worshippers rely on their every photograph to quench their thirst for personal tidbits of information.
The paparazzi (paparazzo is the singular form) are freelance photographers who assertively pursue celebrities for the purpose of taking candid photographs. They hid in bushes and behind cars. They bounce like lions upon their prey all in an effort to capture a golden photo.
Most celebrities claim that the paparazzi, or the "stalkarazzi" as they are inaffectionately known, not only invade their privacy and personal space, they insist these photographers are potentially dangerous. You may recall that many people first blamed the paparazzi for the deaths of Princess Dianna and Dodi Fayed who were killed in 1997 during a high-speed car chase in Paris, France. An outrage against the paparazzi ensued.
The paparazzi and their antics received so much publicity that it became commonplace for other forms of the media to parody these "leeches of society" in a variety of comedy skits, including the Seinfeld two-part series finale. You may recall that the main plot line involved the four friends (Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer) being arrested and eventually imprisoned for violating the "Good Samaritan Law" of Latham, Massachusetts.
This fictional "Good Samaritan Law" was modeled after the real French law that was passed after Princess Diana's car crash and the public indignation over the fact that the photographers who chased her stood around the car taking photos and not assisting in the rescue attempt.
It seems that other people are fighting back against the paparazzi as well. In the past week, a paparazzo, trying to photograph Matthew McConaughey at a beach in Malibu, was allegedly attacked by a mob of surfers who threw his camera in the ocean. In another news report, it was announced that Woody Harrelson was being sued for $2.5 million by a paparazzo who accused the actor of assaulting him and breaking his video camera two years ago.
Scenes of body guards pushing paparazzi and their cameras out of the faces of celebrities are commonplace on "entertainment" shows. The claim of a paparazzo that Britney Spears drove over his foot was thrown out of court.
And yet, the paparazzi persevere. They are willing to take abuse, at least to a certain degree, because the know that an increasing number of magazines, news agencies, and entertainment shows are willing to pay top dollar for "juicy" photos, sound bites, or film footage. The paparazzi also claim that they are helping celebrities and public figures by taking their photos and keeping them in the news.
In the end, a sizeable part of the general public loves to hear the latest gossip and look at the latest photos of their favorite personalities. Until this changes, we can expect to be bombarded by the latest photos of Britney, Lindsay, Paris, and so on...
