Magazines With Photographs Of The Celebrity example essay topic

Monica Blackmon English 102 27 September 2002 Do Celebrities Have The Right To Normal Privacy? Hollywood is the home of glitz, glamour and larger than life movie stars. The life of a celebrity seems pretty great from the million dollar homes to the designer clothing. But there is a price of fame that these celebrities endure? Celebrities know how to use the press to their advantage but the celebrity / media is known to have a rocky relationship.

Furthermore, the relationship becomes tainted when the paparazzi who are known for stalking, trespassing, and paying people that are connected with the celebrity to give out information about their location. What exactly does the word privacy mean? Schoeman, a professor from the University of California at Berkley says, "privacy can be better understood by characterizing the contents in which it arises or is invoked as a concern" (Schoeman 11). "The fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to be secure in one's person, houses, papers, and effects against reasonable research" (Schoeman 12). The celebrities claim that there is a fine line between the paparazzi who photograph their every move and other members of the news media.

Who are the paparazzi and what are they after? Italian filmmaker, Federico Fellini created a fictional aggressive photographer named, Paparazzo". A paparazzo's job requires luck, a hide like a rhinoceros, and endless amounts of patience for standing around, hoping for something to happen" (Rosenthal A 10). They are aggressive and patient. They are hard working and enterprising. They are informed and competitive.

They know their market and when and where to catch an image. They are the paparazzi and for better or for worse, they have become a part of the modern culture the paparazzi search for those candid photos. They want photographs catching the stars doing something strange, or revealing something that could make them a fortune. The paparazzi are constantly setting up various stakeouts searching for celebrities. A photographer who trespasses to obtain a photograph is also violating the law.

And in most places, there are already laws to protect people from being stalked and harassed. The Paparazzi peddle a product many people want. The paparazzi are always trying to catch a snap shot of the celebrities and their private lives. These photographers not only wait for days for a juicy photo but weeks. Moreover, who is funding the paparazzi? "Usually, the paparazzi and their photo agencies approach the magazines, but sometimes the magazine takes the initiative" (Sun stein A 10).

It's the public who then in return funds the media. Not only are the tabloids in the front isle of every supermarket or newsstand but celebrity oriented tabloid TV shows have emerged such as Hard Copy, Access Hollywood, and Extra (Fallows 39). Journalistic assault is committed not search of news or even entertainment but power, the power to create fear (Wall street A 18). The media could if they wanted to change the way they go about reporting the news however that's not how they make their money: "Editors and publishers acting individually could wipe out paparazzi photography by refusing to buy any pictures at all from photo agencies that allow their photographers to behave like thugs. That's not our market, sweet heart. (Wall Street A 18) The public in general thrives on media gossip and whoever gives it to us the best are the shows we watch and the papers we purchase.

Donald Kaul says", We have become a celebrity obsessed culture in which our interest in the goings-on of the movie stars, athletes and caf'e society figures reached deranged heights. We are all paparazzi" (Kaul 18). The tabloid papers and their TV counterparts create a venue for images and stories, however fabricated or captured, which they in turn present to a public eager to soak it all in. Many celebrities have actually fought photographers recently in the past couple of years for invading their private lives. In the 80's on the wedding day of Sean Penn and Madonna, Sean left a not so nice message in the sand for the paparazzi. Alex Baldwin was sued a few years back for assaulting a photographer while bringing home his new baby girl.

Many celebrities sue for libel, which occurs when the press prints false and defaming information about a person. There are some journalists however, emphasize that members of the public-the consumers- need to encourage better reporting. The idea of taking a stand against the paparazzi occurred immediately after Princess Diana's death The length to what the paparazzi would do came to the publics' attention during the investigation of the late Princess Diana. The paparazzi were relentless in photographing her at all times. Lady Diana has been on the cover of People 43 times, more than any other person (Wall Street B 1). "Diana was a standout because she was not only beautiful but refreshingly human.

Emerging into the public life with beguiling timidity, the young bride quickly became the modern version of the fairy tale princess" (Wall Street A 18)". The paparazzi followed Diana relentlessly for years, taking pictures of her at the gym, on the street, on vacation, with boyfriends, with her sons, with her ex-husband and appointments with therapists (Rosenthal A 10). The relationship that Diana shared with the media was a courting disaster, moreover, benefits for both sides. But the paparazzi were fueled even more when they found that the Princess was dating Dodi Fayed and the price of those two together was almost close to a million dollars. Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed died on August 31, 1997 while speeding through an underpass in Paris trying to lose the paparazzi that were on motorcycles. After the crash there were reports that some of the members of the paparazzi who witnessed the crash just took photographs of the late princess and did not make an effort to help in the aid of the rescue.

But however the public can't really blame the press for the death of the late Princess. There were several reports that the driver of the car had been drinking and was past the legal drinking level in France and no one forced him to speed through the underpass to evade the press. But it would be wrong to lay her death at the feet of the overzealous press. In an ideal world, perhaps, the press would restrict its scrutiny of the public figures to instances where the public's business is involved. (Wall Street A 18) The paparazzi are working people like the rest who thrive on achieving goals that they have set for themselves. One member of the media stated, "Our duty, we tell ourselves, is exclusively to be rough, and then to let the public sort out the consequences (Fallows 37).

The media, however, has a way of feeding the publics appetite. In return they receive the money that the public pays for there deeds. The celebrities call upon the media to promote things going on with them, which catches the eye of the public. But when the public becomes infatuated by them and buys the tabloids or magazines with photographs of the celebrity during there private time, the celebrity feels violated.

"My distinction of two sorts of privacy-one restricting others' access to areas that are nevertheless regulated and the other restricting access with the point of allowing individual expression" (Schoeman 18). Blackmon 6

Bibliography

Kaul, Donald. "Princess Di's Death Makes us All Paparazzi". Liberal Opinion Week (September 15, 1998): 18 London, Martin.
Fending Off Paparazzi". New York Times (September 5, 1997): A 35 Rosenthal, A.
M. "Blood on Their Hands". New York Times (September 9, 1997): A 21 Schoeman, Sara.
Privacy and Social Freedom. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Staples, William. The Culture of Surveillance. New York: St Martin's Press, 1997.
Wall Street Journal (September 2, 1997).