The Lives of Others

paps around poor little britney It is almost winter, and in the late afternoon the sun came out from behind the clouds, so I went and opened the venetians as far as I could. I just wanted to feel a little of the sun’s rays, so rare lately these days…

One of the neighbours walked past, and I don’t care too much who looks in through the lounge room window, but I thought it was probably a bit rude that he did. He’s walked past a hundred times so he’s seen it all before – the bookcase, the old settees, me sitting in front of the TV. But he looked again.

Maybe he can’t help it; maybe we all just can’t resist that urge to look into our neighbours' windows.

But what if he was there all day looking in? What if there were ten others too, and they all had cameras and were yelling out, “Violet, Violet,” all day long or any time I stepped outside.

But I’m not famous, I hear you say. Luckily, for me.

Otherwise, I might have to live behind 10’ high walls, have security guards, cctv, and hire people to do my shopping for me. Doesn’t sound like much fun.

But it would be worse than just that. How would my relationships be affected if every person I spoke with was photographed, every suitor scrutinised and publicised in every magazine and newspaper? (this is news??)

But celebrities aren’t like you and me, are they? They make heaps of money and so they should expect public interest; it’s all part of the deal, isn’t it? Who sets the terms for this deal?

Well, they chose the limelight, didn’t they? They went into films, or the music industry, and fame is part of the deal. Sure, we want pictures of them on the red carpet, but we also seem to want pictures of them in their backyards, pictures of them on holiday, pictures of them out walking the dog.

We want all these pictures so much that we don’t even stop to think about whether the people we idolise can still live any semblance of a normal life, with the tabloid’s endless appetite for photos of absolutely everything they do.

magazine jamie-lynn spears is pregnant But this fascination with the ‘ordinary’ lives of celebrities has shifted. With the advent of ‘reality’ TV Mr and Mrs Everyperson is lining up for the same treatment. There is a long list of disgruntled reality TV participants loudly proclaiming that they were set up, that things didn’t really happen the way the film was packaged to show it. Still, we’re a long way from realising that being no one and having no one interested in your every movement is something a celebrity can’t buy back no matter how much money they make.

In the Oscar winning movie, ‘The Lives of Others’ the police state of Berlin ensures that privacy cannot be taken for granted. The protagonists in the movie are continuously monitored by the secret police. It is the kind of thing that seemed to epitomise the worst of communist rule. And we subject our idols to almost the same thing. But it’s for our harmless amusement; we’re not part of some evil politick.

Tell that to Britney.