Interesting area, privacy, and how its boundaries are constantly being threatened, or redrawn, by technology and shifts in popular culture. I've long said there are three generation to encounter the internet so far. There's those of us who were adults when it arrived, old enough to know better than to live too out loud online, and who are of an age where we can reasonably be expected to watch ourselves on there. Then there are the generation behind us, who were too young to think it through, and will have all thier drunken young exacapdes come back to haunt them many times over via the web. Behind them, there are a new generation of kids learning from their mistakes, and once more being careful what they put out there. Insofar as you can generalise, at least.
The proliferation of camera phones since 2005ish has made a big cultural impact on major news events - for instance, when we had the tube bombings in London on 7th July 2005, a very significant quantity of the footage, of photographs and other material used in the mainstream news media came directly from ordinary member of the public. The concept of "citizen journalism" was effectively born then. (Beyond privacy, there are also major IP issues here, all sorts. Fascinating subject.)
Not exactly Hollywood, but there was a huge furore in the British Press a few years back when the makers of a hardcore porn movie, put the face of a fifteen year old British girl, a picture of whom, they had lifted from the internet, on the front cover.What if one of your random pictures catches the eye of a Hollywood talent scout?
jamespowers said:
I am pretty sure the left one is a member here.
By and large, I don't think that the proliferation of photograph-taking devices has been a good thing for mankind.
Being photographed by random strangers is a big issues for my girlfriend, who is visibly tattooed from head-to-toe, including hands, feet and neck. She works in a creative profession where her body modification is, if anything, an asset. But where riding the bus or streetcar, random strangers frequently take pictures of her, sometimes clandestinely and sometimes blatantly. Oddly, in the vacation destination that San Francisco, more often than not, these people are not millennials who "don't know any better," but rather are middle-aged tourists.
Generally we (her and I) let this slide if we're in place where the expectation is minimal, but it's really a slippery slope as to what such a place constitutes. This weekend, I caught a middle-aged women taking my girlfriend's picture from the waiting area of restaurant while we were seated, eating dinner . . .
. . . my usually response is to call attention (verbally) to what the person is doing in order to publicly shame them, which generally works as deep down folks know they really aren't supposed to do such things.
What if one of your random pictures catches the eye of a Hollywood talent scout?
But wasn't Alec Baldwin The Shadow? Can't he just cloud people's minds so they don't see him to take his photo?
My photos are slathered on the net. But nothing saucy.
Please feel free to use my foot..I insist.:rofl:
On another note, you know every time I see that name Alec Baldwin in the title it makes me want to give him a swift kick. Anything that happens to him---he deserves or earned.
My biggest beef with the proliferation of cameras is how they impinge on genuine experience. It's great to be able to snap a fun photo of things you see out and about, but when you go to a gig and your view of the stage is interrupted by a hundred and one field telephones being waved in the air by folks more intent on recording the show than watching it. Mn.
I think they do for the picture takers too. I've been trying to step away from the camera more and experience things. I have a young daughter, and often the push is to capture every new thing on film. The camera is a barrier between the photographer and the experience, and my daughter appreciates me being there with her in the moment more than being the photographer.
On a side note, wasn't Alec Baldwin the one caught berating his daughter on the phone several years ago by someone on film? If so, I suspect anyone who cannot behave himself with common decency in public would particularly not like being filmed as it is showing the "true side" of his personality. It reeks a little bit of someone being angry their privacy was violated because they were filmed as they hurt another person.
Please feel free to use my foot..I insist.
On a side note, wasn't Alec Baldwin the one caught berating his daughter on the phone several years ago by someone on film? If so, I suspect anyone who cannot behave himself with common decency in public would particularly not like being filmed as it is showing the "true side" of his personality. It reeks a little bit of someone being angry their privacy was violated because they were filmed as they hurt another person.
If I remember correctly those phone calls may have been released by his wife and legal team as part of their divorce and child custody battle. I don't blame her one bit for doing so. What a class act this clown is.On a side note, wasn't Alec Baldwin the one caught berating his daughter on the phone several years ago by someone on film? If so, I suspect anyone who cannot behave himself with common decency in public would particularly not like being filmed as it is showing the "true side" of his personality. It reeks a little bit of someone being angry their privacy was violated because they were filmed as they hurt another person.
Yes, he was that jackass. To have him complain about being in the public eye is just stupid. He is a publicity hound on one hand and now he wants to be private. Fine but if he acted like a human in public instead of a jackass with numerous examples behind him, then he wouldn't have a problem with bad publicity. He is a public figure and as such he is news wherever he goes and whatever he does becomes news. He needs a publicity man to manage his jackassery in public.
Now regular folks who don't regularly make fool out of themselves in public is another subject. We are not public figures and the standard for privacy is definitely a lot higher (by law)---and should be.
I still see nothing in the profession to emulate and would never encourage my child to go into the field.A hundred years ago, actors were considered the worst kind of low-life. Respectable landlords wouldn't rent to them, respectable businesses wouldn't serve them, parents wouldn't want their children to become them, and families of showfolk considered them to be the most disgraceful kind of black-sheep embarassments.
A hundred years later, actors are the most admired, emulated, marketed, truckled-to people on the face of the planet. We've Come So Far.
I still see nothing in the profession to emulate and would never encourage my child to go into the field.
As a side note, Lizzie you really need a daily column called We've Come So Far. I'd be first in for a subscription.
If I remember correctly those phone calls may have been released by his wife and legal team as part of their divorce and child custody battle. I don't blame her one bit for doing so. What a class act this clown is..
I'm not familiar with US privacy law, but over here there's a clear division between what is considered correct behaviour, and privacy. Essentially, unless there is a clear public interest in exposing you (public hypocrisy being a key one - for example, Naomi Campbell denying that she had a drug habit, and that then being exposed), a court will always find it none of anyone else's business, however much we may disapprove of it morally. I find that about right. Of course, courts here are also very careful to distinguish between the genuine protection of privacy, and those cases where a claimant is seeking rather to manage public image. Those found to be doing the latter will find they lose out at law. In this case, it would really depend on the details of the circumstances.
For some strange reason, I thought Alec Baldwin was in public cussing out his daughter on the phone and that was how that conversation was recorded. I didn't think his phone was tapped. Hence, this is why I would find such "fake hurt" at being recorded in public as laughable- anyone who airs their dirty laundry like that can't be upset when others notice. I could be wrong, however, as to if it was actually a publicly witnessed cell conversation.