The paparazzi disturb me. I have been thinking a lot lately about them and their effect on our society and been asking often how far should the paparazzi be allowed to go?
While blogging from the set of Extra recently like I have been lately, I heard about a new movie, Teenage Paparazzo, which seems to address these exact concerns of mine. The movie debuted on HBO Monday night and it may be worth the watch by anyone interested in celebrity news.
I don’t mean the kind of usually upbeat, work-related celeb news you find here, or on Extra or on any other reputable site where the celebs’ actual work and art are discussed or to which the celebs themselves turn to to tell their stories.
I am talking about the kind of “news” which chronicles every move of a celebrity; moves which have nothing to do with the celebs’ occupations but which only feed into our salacious appetite for gossip.
Teenage Paparazzo is the brainchild of actor/director Adrian Grenier. Grenier is best known for playing a fictional movie star on HBO’s Entourage whose every move gets tracked by a pack of paparazzi–very much like what Grenier goes through in his real life. After a chance meeting with a 13-year old professional paparazzi named Austin Visschedyk, Grenier decided it was time to turn the camera on the Paparazzi by directing this documentary.
Teenage Paparazzo documents the true story of the relationship between this 13-old paparazzo and Grenier. But Grenier soon found the project turning into a personal challenge as he was forced to take responsibility for his influence on his subject’s life. As Visschedyk succumbs to the lure of fame himself, Grenier sets out to understand what makes that lure so powerful—hoping that he and Austin can find something more authentic than the relationship of mutual exploitation that now exists between them.
Teenage Paparazzo highlights interviews with various people who understand both the perks and consequences of heightened media exposure—from psychologists and historians to celebrities (including Matt Damon, Eva Longoria, Paris Hilton, Alec Baldwin and Whoopi Goldberg), as well as critics, fans, bloggers, publishers and tabloid writers. Grenier ultimately offers an intimate look at the paparazzi and the celebrity culture they serve—and the way it influences this particular teenager and his family.
Grenier recently told NPR: “Austin was just this little innocent kid who approached me for a picture, and at first I obliged, thinking he was a fan. When he pulled out a camera probably twice the size of his head, and sprayed me with about 30 flash shots, I realized quickly that he was not just a fan, but something maybe more sinister.”
“Now that tabloid obsession and celebrity culture had trickled down to our kids, I knew that it’d gone too far and I had to investigate more,” he says.
“I mean, I’m on Entourage. It’s what we indulge and promote. I think, in a lot of ways, celebrities represent the American dream. They have financial fluidity and options at their disposal. Of course [the kids] are going to go for it,” he says.
Watch the trailer for Teenage Paparazzo:
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