Drawing the Lines of Good Taste and Respect

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The other day I read about this famous author who Tweeted about a famous actor's sex appeal after seeing the celebrity naked in the gym locker room. Now I'm not going to perpetuate who the author was or the famous celebrity, because it was tasteless in the first place. After I had a few days to simmer on what an invasion of privacy that was, I decided to blog about it. Even if I have a small glimmer of influence to get people to think about just how much that Tweet invaded that celebrity's privacy. Let's for the sake of argument suggest that while the gym is a somewhat public place, the locker room is not. If our celebrity had streaked or walked around in the public gym naked then this person would be fair game. Otherwise, if someone is changing or showering in the gym, he/she is not, in my opinion, fair game. Just because you happen to spot someone changing in the gym locker room doesn't give you license to Tweet about or talk about it. I was further turned off knowing that the offending Tweeter was also a pretty famous person. Maybe in this person's world it's okay to invade another's privacy, but would this same person be down with it if the shoe were on the other foot or the pants off the other body? Since the author lacked boundaries in the first place, I am willing to suggest probably yes. The rest of us ... hmm ... not so much. Just because you have achieved fame doesn't mean it's complete open season on your private life or your "privacy". I have paparazzi suggest that celebrities know this comes with the territory, but I ask you, "Really?" Do you really think that when someone achieves fame they believe they are going to forfeit their privacy down to dressing or undressing in the gym? Do we really think fame gives the rest of us a get out of "decent behavior" free card? I know we are a culture with a big appetite for seeing our favorite celebrity du jour doing things out in real life, but I really think we debase ourselves when we think it's perfectly okay to cross certain lines out of the rationale that, "Hey, this person knows this comes with the territory." I would wager that no famous person truly believes he/she has to give up all of his/her privacy for fame. And that's my rant for the morning. How is your day?

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