Paparazzi: Stalkers? or People Trying to Make a Living?

Everyone knows about paparazzi, those people with cameras that follow celebrities around while snapping some pictures to sell for money. But does everyone know the true story behind the paparazzi? You might think that they are just some creepy jerk that invades celebrities' privacy to take pictures, but what if they are actually a kindhearted person just trying to make a living? This is the question you need to ask yourself.

The word "paparazzi" originated in the 1960 Italian movie  La Dolce Vita. In this film, there was a character name Paparazzo who was a news photographer. The director, Federico Fellini, based this character off a boy he knew back when he was in school who was called Paparazzo (Mosquito). The word itself comes from an Italian dialect word for a particularly noisy, buzzing mosquito. So how does the definition of the word paparazzi apply to the paparazzi? Basically, the paps like to swarm the celebrity and take many pictures, some would say they are buzzing around the celebrity. They're constantly following this person kind of like how a mosquito would follow anything with blood.

Now back to the big question, are the paparazzi just plain stalkers, or are they people with a job they need to complete for the money they need?

What is the definition of a stalker? A stalker (according to the dictionary) is a person who harasses another person, as a former lover, a famous person, etc., in an aggressive, often threatening and illegal manner. Do the paps really harass the stars? In some ways, I can understand how people would say they do. Some paps go to the extreme and invade the celebrity's privacy so much you could call it harassment. An example of this is when Katy Perry was trying to leaving LAX. Katy was completely covered up to avoid being noticed or to avoid paparazzi, sadly this didn't work. The paps wanted to get her attention, so they began to boo and jeer. It got worse when one tried to push his way into Katy's car where her assistant had to take action. Its stuff like this that can give the paparazzi a bad rep and the title of "jerks and complete stalkers."

But you always have to look to the other side as well. What if the paps were just trying to make money to help their family? Maybe not all paps are jerks, maybe they are just trying to make a living. The pictures the paparazzi take can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on a few things. The pictures need have good quality, a good emotion from the celebrity (smiling, laughing, etc.), and they need to be unique and original because you're not going to make a lot of money off of a picture that ninety other people already sent in even if they choose yours and its brilliant. If you think about it, the paparazzi need quite a lot of skill to be able to take perfect photos for the magazine, company, newspaper, etc. that they are selling to. So, these "jerks" may have took many years to build up a skill that they could make thousands of dollars off of.

Plus if you think about it, the celebrities depend on the paps as much as the paps depend on the celebrities. Without the paparazzi, no one would be able to find out anything about the celebs, and without the celebs the paparazzi wouldn't have a job.

What do you think? Are the paps stalkers that need to leave the celebrities alone, or do you think that they are just people doing their job?

  

Buying Pieces of Celebrities?

Just imagine this, one day you're sitting on your couch, maybe watching some t.v., when suddenly your One Direction obsessed friend calls and says, "I just got a lock of Harry Styles' hair!" Would you believe her? You would probably think that this is all fake and your friend is delusional but stuff like this actually happens.

Many fans do get their hands on belongings of their favourite celebrities. The items range from chewed gum, hair, clothes, and even breath in a jar. The belief is that in buying these "pieces" of the celebrity brings the fans closer to their idol. But the real question is, why do they want it? Why would someone want a used tissue or an old tooth? To some it would be quite gross and disturbing in thinking that these people would keep that near them, meanwhile it could be infested with bacteria that could make someone sick. "People want a piece of someone they like and admire," psychologist Joyce Brothers had said. "It's like obtaining somebody's halo." I understand on how you'd be completely star struck to have your favourite celebrities old t-shirt, but why something like chewed up gum?

I think people buy these things so they can feel like they have a connection with the celebrity. If you got to say, "I have a lock of Jennifer Lawrence's hair." You'll most likely have plenty of people asking you where you got it and how you bought it. You spend from hundreds to thousands of dollars on this item that had belonged to a celebrity because you feel like you're one step closer to establishing a true connection with them. Plus it makes you feel like you have just won the lottery because of owning Taylor Lautner's half eaten sandwich or old sweat pants.

Sadly there is one downside to buying these celebrity items because there is no proof that they are real. You could pay so much money for a piece of Brittney Spears' chewing gum, but how do you know its actually hers? This is why people need to be careful when buying celebrity memorabilia because Justin Bieber's used tissue could end up being some forty year old man's tissue he wanted to make thousands of dollars off of.

Just to show you the true extremes that fans will go to get their hands on a piece of their beloved idol, here are a few examples of celebrity memorabilia that fans have bought.

1. Justin Timberlake's French Toast
In the year 2000, Justin was having a breakfast interview at a New York radio station where he left two slices of French toast unfinished. The quick-thinking staff then put them up on eBay and ended up making more than $1,025.

2. Brittney Spears' Pregnancy Test
Back in 2005 a pregnancy test that was supposedly left by Brittney Spears at a hotel in Los Angeles. It was then sold for $5,001 and the money went to charity.

3.Queen Elizabeth II's Underwear
Yep, you read correctly. In 2012 Queen Elizabeth II's panties were bought for $18,000!

It's quite obvious that there are people out there that would spend all of their money on a piece of a celebrity. Would you spend thousands of dollars for something as small as French toast that will most likely grow mold in less than a week? Would you spend all of your money on used underwear that was worn by the Queen? It all comes back to how much someone really loves that person. If someone kind of likes a certain famous person, I doubt they are going to spend thousands of dollars on that celebrity's used tissue. If someone is completely obsessed with that same person, then they would most likely go to that extreme and buy it.

Would you ever buy a piece of your favourite celebrity?