Examining the Relationship Between the Paparazzi and Celebrities

I have been interested in the paparazzi and the people who stalk celebrities since my brother first started his musical career. When people would say how lucky I was to have a famous family member, I wished they could see the other side. Our perspective was not nearly the glamorous lifestyle that many people imagined. Our life stories, candid statements, and friendships are examined like it is evidence for a major crime scene. Studying the issue from my unique perspective, I also realized the solution was not as simple as I thought. The constitutionality of legislating a person’s right to chronicle another’s life came into play. And recently, as I enrolled in college as a photography major, I had yet another perspective to add to my research. Should the federal government rush through legislation specifically to curtail the activity’s of the paparazzi, or is there a less constitutionally threatening alternative?

Who are the paparazzi? Many definitions exist for the paparazzi. Oxford dictionary defines the word as “a freelance photographer who pursues celebrities to get photographs of them.” James Howe expands on the definition by adding “they are photographers who seek out and follow celebrities, or crash events to which they were not invited, in order to photograph them in their most unguarded moments” (Howe 17). My interpretation of the paparazzi is photographers who chase, badger, or harass their subjects in an unwelcome environment. It does not pertain to photographers or photojournalists who cover red carpet events, nightclubs, concerts, or promotional tours. Candid shots and documentaries where a photographer is invited are not considered acts of the paparazzi.

Pursue, seek out, crash events--is this really freedom of...

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...paparazzi the opportunity to make a living. The balance must also be one that will allow creative expression by these artists. But there must also be restraint. Allowing the celebrity to go about a somewhat normal life when on private property, at a child’s school function, at the funeral of a loved one, would go a long way toward making this a functional relationship. Perhaps the most important issue is allowing for the safety of celebrities and their families. In the end, the insatiable demand for more and more information about the lives of the celebrity is driving a dangerous frenzy around these talented people. In the end, perhaps the bigger challenge is this—how do we teach people to live and appreciate their own fulfilling lives rather than spending so much time and money living through others? Might this be the true solution to this problem?