Does anyone remember the incident surrounding Princess Diana's death? I remember having discussions about it back in Grade 4, and the word 'paparazzi' appeared in my vocabulary for the first time. It was interesting to me at the time because the word started off as something negative.
Today when we talk about society, the words 'paparazzi' and 'the media' and 'media moguls' appear so frequently, and get thrown around and taken for granted as being something we can pay attention to or not. But what does the word 'paparazzi' mean?
If we think in terms of Hollywood, paparazzi are just those annoying photographers that follow celebrities around, that people just choose to ignore. The word's meaning has been attributed, supposedly by the Italian director F.Fellini, to the suggestion of a "buzzing insect, hovering, darting, stinging." There is a negative connotation to it. They're like annoying houseflies or wasps that won't leave no matter what you do.
Our society has gotten to the point that we let the paparazzi "be" as they choose to be. Especially in twinkle-towns around the world (Hollywood, Bollywood etc.), celebrities either soak it in or they stay away from them. The problem with this approach is that there is no control over them - the people in the spotlight think that they have a sense of control, but look at the most recent controversies in the news; sex tapes, love affairs, Miley Cyrus, Tiger Woods, and the like.
Quite frankly, we don't need to know about what all these celebrities are doing with thier lives. We don't need to know that Tiger Woods is a man-whore. Is Miley Cyrus a role model for young girls who want to follow their dreams? Who knows! But should what she does in her time matter to us? Seriously?
Maybe I'm wrong though. Maybe we should all be spreading rumours about each other. Maybe we should seriously consider stalking other people for the rest of our lives. Maybe we'll all come to the realization that if we wasted our time caring about the private life of virtual strangers, that our lives might just be a little less painful.
Who knows.
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