Camera phones have turned us all into amateur paparazzi. When we’re with our friends, we feel the need to post every second of our experience online as if it can’t happen unless 300 people experience it online as well. This societal norm is now going beyond our own personal lives including our friends and into the lives of celebrities in which we know nothing about other than their acting or music career. In recent years, celebrities have been coming out and addressing a situation regarding fans feeling entitled to take photos of them.
In 2016 Justin Bieber made an announcement through an Instagram post saying, “It has gotten to the point that people won’t even say hi to me or recognize me as a human, I feel like a zoo animal, and I wanna be able to keep my sanity.”
What many fans don’t understand is that the celebrities don’t owe their fans a photo or hug when they are out living their lives. Many fans fight back to celebrities’ statements like this saying they owe their fans this much since they are famous. That is entirely not the truth and thinking that way is why it’s such a big problem.
Do celebrities owe anything to their fans? The answer is no. Lili Reinhart, the actress who portrays character Betty Cooper on the CW’s hit Riverdale, has been voicing her opinion on the matter since early last November. Reinhart spoke out against online harassment of Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard. The situation that sparked outrage by fans was when Wolfhard didn’t stop along the street to take photos with fans which led to being called “rude” online. Actors and musicians are regular people like us who are in the spotlight because their talent is broadcasted amongst a very large amount of the world population. That being said, celebrities have boundaries like you and I and deserve respect. It isn’t fair to think that since they are posted all around the internet that they want their photo to be taken as they are out with friends in New York City or walking out of their home to get the mail.
Reinhart spoke out on Twitter after fans took photos of her while she was out eating. A fan responded to Reinhart’s reaction online by saying, “If you don’t want that much attention then quit acting for good. Be nice to the fans.” This then led the actress to respond with, “No, no, no. This is what’s wrong – you think you’re entitled to take a photo of me while I’m alone and eating because I’m on a tv show. So I asked for it, right? Wrong. I am a human being. I am not Betty Cooper. You aren’t entitled to me. At all.”
Reinhart explains the problem well saying how she as an actress and human being is not asking to be photographed every living moment in her life. No fan is entitled to a celebrity whether that be snapping a photo of them to post online or any physical contact.
Bottom line is for us to put ourselves in their shoes. Would you like strangers taking photos of you without your permission and posting them online as though you are an exhibit in a museum for the world to see? Nope, didn’t think so.