$ellebrity

I thought this film (which is actually a documentary) was pretty interesting. I liked hearing celebrities honestly talking about the paparazzi. I did get very depressed by especially the part about the kids of celebrities being chased by all these flashes, that really has to stop. And I just got the urge to punch some of the paparazzi that were in this. But the structure of this documentary is pretty good and I think the only reason it has such a low rating is because (other people have mentioned this) paparazzi are just don't want people to see this. Because they're horrible. But if you're interested in Hollywood, in celebrities, or if you like Jennifer Aniston (who doesn't?), you should check this one out.

This is a fun not so little documentary about celebrities and paparazzi. There are several laughs along the way, and you can hear some of the experiences from the celebs mouths.

Other interviewed, are paparazzo, editors, readers of tabloids, and there is a little history lesson about how this all came about and how it used to be "back in the day".

To me it was all very interesting and honest in it's portrayal of how it is the walk the street or step out of your car as a celebrity. They cover people who aim to be stalked by the paparazzi as well as the children of celebs who plead for people to stop taking pictures. In that one moment, where Travis' son was asking to be left alone, it's hard not to feel bad for just witnessing what is being done to this child.

I'm one of those people who have never purchased a celebrity tabloid magazine. I do scan the covers while waiting in obnoxiously long lines at the market and I do now and then click a link about a celebrity, but I have never qu8te understood the people who buy this junk. The kind of people who talk about celebrities when you ask them how they are doing, as if that's their life. I find it a little pathetic.

At no point in the documentary do they explicitly say where the line is overall, and I don't think anybody really knows. Some say it definitely starts with the children, but people want to see little Suri. And sometimes I figure, Katie Holmes wants to show her off. It's hard to know where the line is... but for me, it's not making celebrities' daily activities a part of my daily life. They are just people, after all, and my life has to be more important to me than theirs.

It is an uncomfortable movie.

And a necessary movie.

It made me think on what I see, how I see it.

How I treat celebrities.

In a way, we are cannibals. We eat their stories, their lives.

We almost feel righteous to get so much information about their lives!

It has to stop. And it is well portrayed why in the movie!

The question that remains for me is :

how are paparazzi not forbidden? why stars do not call immediately the police before to even try to get out of their car? what are the judges and courts doing about something that has become insane, rude, ugly : the paparazzi behavior?

$ellebrity is suppose to be a critical look at the media focus on celebrity, which is a very serious issue. Many in the public are more aware of who someone famous is dating than what genocides or wars are going on in the world. The documentary does manage to put the phenomenon in a historical context, but the problem lies with how it is made. It is done in tabloid style.

Sensational anecdotes and the importance of what famous people think is the focus. The Hollywood elites do have a valuable perspective, but their words shouldn't carry all the weight. Some of them are unsurprisingly overwrought, particular Jennifer Lopez. The girl from the Bronx who so badly wanted to be famous, can't stop complaining about her life in the film. Being that well-known is a burden, and living without anonymity is difficult, but they knew it came with their field. They were aware of what they were getting into. Sociology experts on the effects of fame could have added some depth to these interviews.

What it comes down to, is that $ellebrity doesn't have anything important to say. Yes, paparazzi act uncivilized and seek to make-up stories, but what part of the media doesn't? With the industry having been taken over by corporations, the bottom line rules over all decisions, and people want simple, outrageous stories. The documentary ends by blaming the readers; however, they aren't really the source of the dilemma. The pure focus on the cash is. Kevin Mazur should have taken a cue from his title.

Sellebrity delves deeper than the title suggests, examining, historically and through interviews, all aspects of celebrity, from a sociological perspective. A how why who examination of human behavior. Excellent documentary, not that you would know from the clip flashing by on IMDB. I thought this couldn't be the movie with the curt description, flashing trailer and dismal rating....