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Stalking remains Hollywood's recurrent celebrity nightmare. 1 Never before have we been able to know as much about a star as we do about a close pal. Thanks to publications and TV shows that cater to the public appetite for celebrity news, there's little privacy for stars. We learn the minor details of their lives -- from an early schooling, to first kiss, last divorce, drug problems, hopes and fears. 2 Celebrities on their own property are not safe from high-powered lenses, I will discuss what celebrity stalking is, why we should have harsher laws against stalking, and what the difference is between photojournalism and the paparazzi. I will prove that stalking celebrities just because there rich or famous is wrong. The law defines stalking as placing a person in fear of his or her safety, even without intent to carry out the threat. 4 Being famous increasingly means living in fear Seventeen percent of the stalker's victims are celebrities. 6 "Stalking of celebrities is not done by your average autograph hound. 7 The stalking behavior due to delusional disorders affects 3 out of every 10, 000 people and only 1 %- 2 % of all mental patients, " Dietz says. " But it is increasing as our culture promotes celebrities as the religion of the day. " 8 "The knowing of the habits and secrets of celebrities has become a national obsession, " says James Swanson, a lawyer and author. 9 There is roughly a dozen types of stalkers. Obsessive love motivates most celebrity stalkers, followed by erotomania -- a person believing that he or she is loved by someone famous.
Can't celebrities just put in a security system, hire a few body guards, have their fan mail checked and relax? 10 It's not that simple. "There's a lot of terrorism involved in stalking that is life-altering, " Lane says. "Once you live in fear, you lose trust in people and become more isolated. It hangs with you for the rest of your life. That's a very high price to pay for fame. " 11 Where stalking is concerned, society, it seems, wants to keep it a personal matter. Perhaps due to the mostly domestic context of the crime, most people rely on the out of sight, out of mind approach where stalking episodes are concerned.
Cases are viewed as "lover's quarrels" or " personal matters, " and other people (often including law enforcement officials) choose to turn a blind eye -- usually until it is too late to help. 12 We should have harsher laws against stalking. Last year the state of California increased the maximum sentence on a first offense to four years, and formed a new Stalking and Threat Assessment Team to isolate cases of stalking and workplace threats before they escalated into violence. 13 Stalking is bothersome at best, and at worst, terrifying. Victims lose a sense of control in their lives and are plagued by self-blame, fear and a lack of self-esteem. Their privacy is destroyed, and they are constantly looking over their shoulders. They will always live in fear of them being a victim of a stalker. For a person to be accused of stalking the guidelines required that said circumstances occur on more than one occasion, with at least one including a threat of bodily harm to the victim or member of his or her family.
The law decreed that this threat could come via spoken words or actions. 14 The most extensive study on the stalking phenomenon was done by Dietz. Using 5, 000 letters supplied by de Becker, he spent six years on the problem. He found that fans who write letters filled with threats are least likely to attempt physical contact. It is fans who write of romance and intimacy who are most likely to do so. "Many celebrities wait until there's been an over threat. They don't realize that, for them, love letters from adult strangers are the greatest risk. " 15 Dietz, who theorizes that 95 % of the letters were written by the mentally ill, says fans turn violent not because they hate the star but because they can't fulfill romantic delusions. 16 Still, one proposed state law would require photographers to stay at least 15 feet away from their subjects. Terry Francke, a lawyer with the California First Amendment Coalition, said such inflexibility would be unconstitutional. 17 As attitudes change, laws will become more powerful and victims will feel more comfortable in coming forward.
As the laws stand now, even a conviction does nothing for victims, short of probably ensuring that their stalkers are angrier than they had been previously. The Senate is taking important steps to protect the interests of stalking victims, but the laws are still too soft on stalkers. Under both the 1994 and current laws, stalking is only a misdemeanor offense, unless there is a previous stalking conviction. This results in many cases being paroled or sentences that simply tap perpetrators on the wrists and tell them to stay away from victims. 18 In Texas, anti stalking laws were enacted in 1994. The initial law took a fairly proactive stance against stalkers, citing an offense as " intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment or embarrass. " 19 Stalking is a crime and should be seen for what it truly is -- a continued violation of personal freedom and peace of mind. Stalking victims are followed, harassed with phone calls and letters and threatened physically. 20 In a country that proclaims that citizens' rights include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, there appears to be a conflict.
Innocent citizens are being victimized by criminals who abuse their freedoms. Rather than constantly reforming laws to be stalker-friendly, the focus should center on stamping out stalking. After all, Americans should be able to pursue their happiness without constantly wondering who is lurking in the bushes. 21 There are two main groups that take pictures of celebrities and other important people. The two main groups are the paparazzi and the photojournalists. A paparazzo is a photographer, especially free-lance one, who takes candid shots of celebrities for newspapers and magazines. This requires lying, bribing, and getting the photograph by any means necessary. 22 A photojournalists is journalism in which news stories are presented mainly through photographs.
This requires getting assignments from reporters, listening to scanners, and going to games or press conferences. They are there to summarize events and emotions through the lens. 23 It's a lot of money when one considers that hundreds of photojournalists struggle to find jobs that average around $ 20, 000 a year. Maybe a little more money could keep the press more focused on what is news? 24 Not every news event is pleasant. There are times when people don't want to be photographed.
Fires, car accidents, shootings -- they are not pleasant, but they are news. I have discussed what celebrity stalking is, why we should have harsher laws against stalking, and what the difference is between photojournalism and the paparazzi. I have proven that stalking celebrities just because of their riches or fame is wrong. If you support my thesis you will go to web and expand your knowledge about stalking.
Celebrities' lives are like a diary open to the public, supplied by the press.
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Research essay sample on Harsher Laws Against Stalking Laws Against Stalking Celebrities
