Voices
the suspects began tossing money
from the vehicle, prompting a
mob frenzy eerily reminiscent of
the mother of all TV chases, O.J.
Simpson’s 1994 Bronco run. Bystanders cheered and waved in
glee while the scene unfolded on
morning television.
Televised police chases have
become woven into our DNA in
much the same way the expectation has spread that we are entitled to an increasingly more
intimate zoom lens view into the
lives of those we celebrate, including heads of state such as
William and Kate. Closer magazine has lived up to its name—
they’ve brought commoners one
step nearer royalty. Closer’s editor was quick with the expected,
knee-jerk defense, arguing the
images of Kate Middleton and
Prince William were obtained
lawfully, from a public area, and
that they are “beautiful” and
“not shocking.”
Not surprisingly, the Royal
Family retorted with heavy condemnation, invoking the memory
of William’s mother, saying the
incident is “reminiscent of the
worst excesses of the press and
paparazzi” during Princess Diana’s lifetime. The Palace followed
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ELY
HUFFINGTON
09.30.12
by filing a lawsuit, though one is
left to wonder just what can or is
to be recouped in doing so—Kate’s
modesty, our collective virtue,
journalistic restraint?
In what seemed a limp-wristed
show of solidarity with The Firm, a
French court granted William and
Kate’s petition, issuing an injunction four days after the pictures
were unleashed, barring further
publication of them. But with the
photos flooding the
internet, and now
with Italian, Irish,
We as a
Swedish and Danish
society have
magazines republishalready walked
ing the images, the
through a
genie has left the prodoor marked
verbial bottle; we as
‘Private,’ into
a society have already
a room with
walked through a door no easy
marked “Private,” into escape route.”
a room with no easy
escape route.
The allure and thrill of the unknown ending in an over-scripted
world and the visceral encounter with the unaltered has left us
drunk and horny on communal
media peep shows.
And to all that I ask, as hungrily
and curiously as everyone, also
with a lingering sense of
unease—what next?