One major compromise of becoming a celebrity is the constant exposure; the inevitable following of fans and the least favourable, paparazzi. Although the first moment when a celebrity is gaining so much attention is initially quite exciting and they hope to maintain that amount of publicity, the novelty begins to wear off and there has to come a time for megastars to be able to have privacy and an enjoyable life without having to be stalked by the media.
Ok I get it, the whole purpose of the paparazzi is to take photos for tabloids as there is such a high demand for celebrity gossip in this current era however they seem to cross the line countless times; no respect for boundaries, uncomfortable questions and all-around utter rudeness. Endless videos of celebrities attempting to dodge the cameras are published on YouTube regularly and stars have unfortunately been snapped in their least favourable moments where all they wish for is closure, leading to some big names actually attacking the paps for self-defence. In fact, numerous famous people have actually gone as far as filing lawsuits against certain photographers due to the extent of distress that has been caused including Adele who urged for photos of her son taken during “milestone moments” to be removed from gossip outlets in 2014, to which she successfully won and rightfully so; private life needs to be kept private – a concept that a paparazzo fails to comprehend.
There have been multiple cases where celebs have been sent into turmoil after never-ending harassment from the press such as Amanda Bynes in 2013, Amy Winehouse in 2008 and the most infamous case of Britney Spears in 2007, where things went from bad to worse. Not only was she having to cope with a divorce and the anxiousness of not knowing if she could gain custody of her two children, the press were detailing every single moment that occurred during her highly publicised meltdown like her stint in rehab, car accident and most notably, her shaven head. 2007 was a rough year for Spears and throwing the paparazzi into the ring created ten times more chaos. Luckily, her career propelled back to success yet since the controversy regarding the breakdown was so heavily documented by the media, some members of the public still possess judgement towards her and berate her for the choices that she made, unwilling to forgive and forget. The media has ended up leaving a social scar on Britney which has taken too long to heal herself.
Over recent weeks, teen heartthrobs, Louis Tomlinson and Justin Bieber, caused a stir after attacking their own fans. Tomlinson struck 22 year-old Ana Becerra after she confronted his girlfriend, Eleanor Calder so he acted as any boyfriend would do. Not to say that his actions were acceptable as he could end up serving time, but he was simply protecting someone who he cared about, his intentions was surely not meant to cause harm. However for Bieber, to tell a fan straight up on camera “You make me sick” does more harm than good, which happened last week in Australia. It’s actually somewhat worrying that a celebrity has been driven to belittle their following and convey the polar opposite of kindness towards their supporters but that being said, having to deal with crowds of people on a regular basis can take its toll and when privacy is available to celebrities, they want to cherish it.
Overall, we have to consider that all of the stars we see in magazines, social media, TV etc. are also humans. They have good days and bad days which is something we seem forget when we witness them fighting off an aggravating photographer or getting in a row with a fan. It needs to be recognised that they don’t need to have their life story to be put out everywhere frequently. They want a balance of good publicity and good confidentiality so we need to provide them the space when neededWhy. And from reading questionable blogs such as TMZ, to watch someone crumble under the public eye really isn’t a pretty sight.
