Paparazzi killed the rock star

If video killed the radio star, tabloids killed the rock star. They even killed the movie star, for that matter. Perhaps they also killed the common sense of the typical American citizen.\nThe things Americans do to be like celebrities have reached an all-time low. While famous folk are fighting the paparazzi, the masses are paying companies to follow them around. At least that’s the case for Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, everyone’s favorite couple to hate on “The Hills,” who made a profit from their posed “spontaneous” paparazzi shots.\nThis past month, Time magazine wrote a feature on Celeb 4 A Day, a company that specializes in hiring fake paparazzi to follow fake celebrities so they can feel famous — for at least one night. One order of pesky paparazzi stalking can cost up to $1,500. The company started in November in Austin, and has since expanded to Los Angeles and San Francisco. \nThe Web site, www.celeb4aday.com, boasts that they can give your special events the star treatment for special occasions. They’ll even acquire information about you so the paparazzi will ask you questions as you are at your preferred event. The site suggests the “fun” you’ll have when your personal paparazzi are actually calling out questions about you and your life — just like they do with Julia, Brad and Britney!\nAh, yes. You must mean questions like “How could you do that to Jen?” and “Are those real?!” \nThere are plenty of perks to being a celebrity. Fame and money are the obvious ones. But the paparazzi scandals we see celebrities encounter should not be reasons to envy our famous counterparts. One of the few things we have that celebrities don’t is privacy. We might not be rich or famous, but at least we know we can go to CVS in our raunchy sweatpants without the whole world finding out. \nWhile the headline of this column is meant to signify the paparazzi killing the spirit of famous and non-famous Americans, it does have some literal context. And it brings to light serious consequences. \nFollowing the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed in a car accident in 1997, several conspiracy theories arose around their causes of death. One theory blamed the persistence of the paparazzi. \nEven if the paparazzi might not be the reason for their deaths, a December 2007 article from the United Kingdom’s Telegraph provides evidence that the paparazzi chose to photograph the crash instead of assist the injured victims. While Fayed and the driver Henri Paul immediately died, Diana and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones (who survived) were still alive while photographers were reportedly taking pictures of the car. \nAfter Lindsay Lohan crashed her car in 2005 while being followed by a photographer, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger passed legislation that would punish paparazzi for such behavior. Schwarzenegger has had his fair share of legal conflict with the paparazzi himself.\nAnd this is the treatment that some Americans are paying for. The desire to want to go be given such treatment is simply disgusting.