Voyeur

I'm going with Blink 182 today, I think pretty much all the planet knows them so there's no need for any explanation, if you haven't heard that song or don't know the band I strongly recommend you to check them out.

I remember when voyeurism was a taboo. Maybe you've noticed the past tense; I've been noticing that there's a tendency in our society to expose ourselves, which leads us to the need of watching what others are doing, hence the voyeurism thing.

I'm quite sure it started with the invention of television but it's gotten worse since the increase of reality shows and the Internet, then you have the social networking like Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, etc. Neither will I condemn nor condone this kind of behaviour, it would be hypocritical of me since, as you already now, I have a blog and I'm pretty much hooked all day on twitter. What bothers me is the fact that some people have a really sick and wrong approach to this new way of communication. I guess I'll have to explain myself a little better if I want you to understand me.

Some people can be quite obssessive in their adorations , there are many examples to that (do you remember the Monica Seles incident) and now everyone can have access to almost every celebrity in the world, I know it's no a physic access but it's an access nonetheless. Maybe, if you're sick enough and you follow "Mr. X's" twitter, and youtube and myspace and blog page you're bound to think that you now a lot of their lives, you can identify yourself with him, you can even get obssessed with him because the amount of information is far bigger that the one you would get in any of the "traditional" ways, such as magazines or tv. It can happen that one of this sick individuals met their "Mr. X" at a movie premiere or at a concert or in a restaurant, and their going to feel as if they own him, because they now what they do in every days life, like where they get cofee or where they go to have their nails done. I think every one, assuming they're disturbed enough, is a potential stalker.

So if you're reading this and you're obssessed with some rock star or movie star or the girl who lives in front of your house, rememeber that you don't know a thing about who they really are. Knowing where they go to buy groceries doesn't give you the right to ask in the middle of the store for a picture of them. It would be great if we were able to respect the boundaries and the intimacy of everyone (celebrities included). We have to try to remember that when they're having their hair cut their not working so we have to let them alone.

I don't want this to be an apology for the defence of the celebrities (though I think it would be a good name for a non-profit organization), I just want you to remember that peeping is not a nice thing to do. Next time you feel elated because you're going to read some gossip about a "Mr. X" remember that it's comparable with a perv looking through your window to see your spouse or child getting ready for a shower. It's just plain sick.

If you love a movie star pay to see their movies instead of downloading them, if you think you are going to die every time you hear a song from your favorite band just go to their concerts, if you love a writer buy his/her books. But please, let them live alone.