“I’m your biggest fan. I’ll follow you until you love me. Papa-paparazzi.” – Lady Gaga
The paparazzi as we know it is a relatively new phenomena and term. It originates from Fellini’s film, La Dolce Vita. In it, an Italian photographer named Paparazzo — an Italian dialect word that describes the annoying noise similar to a buzzing mosquito — was a fast talker. By the late 1960s, the word, usually in the Italian plural form of paparazzi, had entered English as a generic term for intrusive photographers.
Today, anyone can look at the hordes of paparazzi that swarm celebrities all over the world and see how fitting that term actually is.
This style of gossip news that the public so craves is not a new phenomena, however. How could Anne Boleyn losing her head not be news worth sharing? She broke up a marriage, helped King Henry VIII leave the Catholic Church and create the Church of England, and was killed after all that work.
By reading this schlock, our brains don’t have to concentrate. We don’t have to think. The off switch can be turned off. Without these types of news stories, or even without the use of gossipy details within straight stories, the news would be a lot less interesting.
But what about those celebrities the paparazzi effect?
Lindsay Lohan, for example, is one of those sad stories that people love. They want to see her rise up from her failures and mistakes just as Britney Spears did, but they love to watch her fall deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. Having the constant attention does not help her with her recovery and the recovering of her privacy and safety.
 |
Lindsay Wants Restraining Order Against Paparazzi
Lindsay Lohan believes she’s being denied driving privileges because the paparazzi are constantly on her tail … so she’s asking her lawyer to get a restraining order prohibiting them from chasing her.As we first reported, the L.A. County Probation Department — along with the DMV — have given Lindsay the green light to drive again.
|
 |
Lindsay Lohan Seeks Protection Against the Paparazzi – Softpedia
Lindsay Lohan Seeks Protection Against the Paparazzi
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWdt2poQZtk
Sometimes celebrities lash back at the paparazzi, just like Travis Barker from Blink-182 did here (NSFW):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htKWLicTnn8
Celebrity gossip supersite, TMZ, had thoughts to bring that madness to DC. Luckily for us in the DC area, that never really came to fruition successfully. I cannot fathom the mess it would create in traffic, both for pedestrians and commuters. I also couldn’t fathom our celebrities being important enough. I mean who really cares about what burger Obama ate today?
 |
From The Hills To The Hill: TMZ Turns Its Focus To D.C.
TMZ will soon be giving Lindsey Graham the Lindsay Lohan treatment, as the company sics its “reporters” and camera crews on politicians. Because if there’s one thing Washington needs, it’s more frivolous reporting. Though TMZ dropped its plans to open a Washington office in 2007, it has…
|
http://twitter.com/ashbylaw/status/128571102522912768
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fjm-xW2jU8
The paparazzi even were the probable cause of Princess Diana’s death. They were chasing her down to catch her with her new beau, which led to the high-speed crash where she perished.
Such tragedy can happen when we let these people with cameras ruin lives. So why do we let them ruin other peoples lives with their lenses?
Do we just enjoy watching the bloodbath and cannot look away, as if we are in the Coliseum watching the gladiators of the day duke it out against tigers and each other, fighting to the death?
I personally think we hope to see failure. Once we see a celebrity fall, we see they are human and just like us. It’s also that we like to see how they bounce back from that sort of fall from grace. Some do it well… and some… well they are pushed to the edge.
Leave a response