Admittedly, I'm far removed from the Hollywood scene. However, I went to Hollywood last Friday and it reminded me of a few things. One thing it reminded me is celebrities choose the path of the paparazzi. By that I mean when I worked in the industry full time I frequently encountered very well known actors, singers, etc in restaurants, grocery stores, bars, and elsewhere who were not being followed by a single cameraperson or reporter. They moved about just like anybody else. Last Friday I saw one of the stars of ABC's "Once Upon A Time" walking down the street completely unmolested -- this was a known person on a popular TV series not being followed. Celebrities have to contend with life in the public eye, but they can choose what face to present to the public. People follow Paris and Britney and Charlie Sheen and Alec Baldwin around because they intentionally lead theatrical public lives that invite an audience, as opposed to the countless celebrities who exist in Hollywood and New York who never make it on Page 6, TMZ, or the Drudge Report. If Lady Gaga focused on her music, the world would know nothing about what she does away from the microphone. But Gaga weighs the pros and cons and decides for herself that the press she gets is worth the hassle. So do they all.
On a much, much smaller scale, part of why I went to Hollywood last week was to confront a Twitter troll who has been threatening and insulting me. I choose to have a public Twitter account, and I choose to use my real name (albeit in Cyrillic) on that account. The consequence is I sometimes have to deal with mildly psycho people who mine social media for information about me, so to a lesser extent I made the same choice on Twitter that many celebrities make in real life. I enjoy chatting with the vast majority of people I encounter on Twitter, just as I enjoy doing so here at TV or not TV. It is interesting to encounter people with shared interests or differing views and that's why I'm on Twitter. I use my real name because I feel it is cowardly to do otherwise. So I have to accept that sometimes somebody who disagrees (or is just plain whacked out of their mind) is going to irritate me (anybody remember "Little Winki" a few years ago here?), but I weigh the cons against the pros, and here we are. As I said, not quite the same, but as adults in the year 2013 these are the decisions we make. Baldwin made his choices. And I suspect he'll still emerge from this with only minor career damage. I mean, at this point, who HASN'T been fired from MSNBC? On Thu, Nov 28, 2013 at 12:21 PM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 5:10 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> I actually do have some sympathy for what celebrities go through with the >> tabloid press and photographers, and when their children or loved ones are >> harassed or placed in some harm I am willing to cut them quite a bit of >> slack in terms of their response. But Baldwin is old enough, and has been >> down this road so many times, that it is obvious that he should by now have >> more effective ways of coping with this. >> > > Up until this incident I was willing to take Baldwin's side. I also have > sympathy for celebrities who want to be out in public and have to be > subjected to a pack of photographers. Especially young people who have not > yet developed the tools to deal with these intrusions. > > But I wonder why these incidents happen only to Alec Baldwin. There are > other stars who choose to live in Manhattan and they don't seem to be > experiencing his problems. And I will grant two extenuating circumstances: > the photographers are freelancers and they are more likely to get into > print if they provoke Baldwin, knowing how he will react and they can get a > photo they can sell, and the NY Post is happy to pay for and run these > photos and run stories of Baldwin's outbursts without bothering to get his > side of the story. I can imagine that freelance photographers bother other > celebrities in the same way but they either don't get the same type of > outburst as a reaction or they can't sell the photos because the papers > feel it will make them look unsympathetic. > > The reason I no longer automatically take Baldwin's side is that there > have been 3 recent incidents. First the repeated conflicts with the > photographers. Since he knows that losing his temper with them gets him > into the headlines in an unsympathetic way, he and his publicists should > have figured out some alternate strategy. Then Shia LeBoeuf was recently on > the Letterman show and talked about being fired during rehearsals from a > Broadway play he was doing with Baldwin. From the way LeBoeuf talked it was > clear that non-disclosure agreements were signed but it seems like mature > adults can find a way to resolve conflicts without going to such extreme > measures. And third was Baldwin's attitude to his podcast. I listened to > all the episodes he produced and thought highly of most of them. The fact > that he has no intention of continuing without considerable compensation > bothers me. > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
