Orginal print: 10/7/08
Last week, popular Korean actress Choi Jin Sil , was found by her mother hanged in her bathroom. She had taken her own life. The official statement from her management stated that the actress was depressed and susceptible to Internet rumors and nasty messages about her and her children.Many readers of the Observer may not be familiar with the 20-year career that Choi left behind. She stared in many popular TV dramas and was called "the people's actress" because of her popularity and her seemingly ageless beauty. She was found in her shower stall hanged with an elastic bandage.
A woman only identified as Baek, was arrested on Sept. 30 for starting and circulating a false rumor that Choi had lent 2 million dollars to another actor that recently took his own life. The falsity fueled forums and websites of anti-fans as well as blogs and gossip sites in her home country.
Her life in the public eye was as dramatic as the movies and soap operas that made her who she is. Which in turn made her fodder for the tabloids. Everything from her storybook wedding to her abusive husband and painful divorce was covered. Now added to that is her somber Oct 4 funeral at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul.
According to the JoonGang Daily, notes Choi left behind said that she was a solitary person, a victim of bullying, and that she didn't feel right. She called close friends and told them to look after her two children. Even though the woman that created the rumor called and begged for forgiveness the damage was done, it was becoming common knowledge that Choi had lent the money and she felt oppressed by the backlash.
It seems universal that all those in the public eye have given up a certain level of privacy because of it, but the worldwide trend of making the humiliation of celebrities entertainment now has a body count. When our popcorn entertainment is at the expense of another human being's mental health what does that say about humanity?
Celeb blogging has spawned its own celebrities because of it's popularity. Sites like PerezHilton.com or Bossip.com attract millions of hits A DAY. Those hits, all people waiting to comment on the latest snafu of Britney Spears or to call Sienna Miller a wife-stealing hussy.
The Celebrity "news" organization TMZ.com has made a fortune off their sea of paparazzi capturing the lowest lows of A-listers to D-listers a like. At some point when will enough be enough? We already have cable stations dedicated to talking about them. Countless magazines that tell us what they wear, eat and even disturbingly enough the contents of their garbage cans.
The question of cyber bullying has always been a hot topic when talking about ethical behavior on the Internet. When a mother impersonated a teen-aged-boy to seduce then humiliate her daughters' school rival, the incident lead to a child killing herself. The media foamed at the mouth and it seemed the courts teemed with frustration that there really wasn't anything they could charge her with.
There is no such fervor against celeb blogs or TMZ when Britney Spears is put on suicide watch. In fact Dr.Phil will just take the opportunity to self promote because he knew the cameras would be rolling.The whole affair is one bad joke.
Cyber bullying seems horrific when done to an average person but perfectly acceptable for someone in the public eye. I can accept that news of a divorce of a popular actress is somewhat newsworthy, but there's a large difference between reporting on a split and running a headline defaming one or both of the parties.
The average netizen cannot help what TMZ.com posts, but we can become more aware of our own actions. It's easy to disconnect oneself from responsibility when posting something horrible, its hard to see a public figure as a human being. Cases like Britney Spears, Mariah Carey or tragically Choi Jin Sil prove that they are. When it comes down to it all we are doing are building a figure up to enjoy tearing them down.
Why do we need humiliation to entertain us, not just reality TV, but to see a actual human being become undone. Where is the fun in that? How can our consciences be clear when we are willing participants in a culture that finds the need to poke fun at the looks or actions of a complete stranger?
I hope that everyone will become mindful of what they post no matter who it's about - be it the chick with the tramp stamp on facebook or a famous face your comments hold weight and could affect someone. Underneath the Mac makeup and Prada clothes they are people just like you, and me, post accordingly.
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