I have been fascinated by our fascination with celebrity since early adulthood. Celebrity has been sought after as much as it has been pushed in our faces. Meanwhile, the celebrities’ lives are driven to ruin, and we reward the crazed news reporters as they seek those whom they may devour.

Meanwhile, the rest of us, situated as we are in much more mundane, mediocre circumstances nobly stand by, tut-tutting the improprieties of those whose circumstances are wildly unlike anything we have experienced, except in our ill-informed imaginations. We remind ourselves that money can’t make us happy (true), and stereotype all celebrities are deeply unhappy people, in order to dignify our mediocrity. We say to ourselves that they are unhappy because they want it all, and can’t get it.

We ignore the role that celebrity-hunters play — crazed fans, crazed reporters who would do anything to break a story, and so on. The word “paparrazzi” dignifies these reporters too much. These sharks, who, without remorse or conscience, will print any hurtful or damaging thing about celebrities if it will boost sales of the magazine or newspaper.

Would it be a violation of free speech to arrest these people for harassment of a celebrity? Yeah, I guess it can be a wedge issue for interviewing other public figures like politicians. We wouldn’t want to ban it, then.