14 DAY TRIAL // Unless you live deep in the underground, where you enjoy countless tea parties with fossilized dinosaur remains, you are probably familiar with the story of Jeremy Meeks, the criminal whose mugshot went viral just days ago.
This man now finds himself behind bars, where he was put by the Stockton Police Department in California, US. Meeks' imprisonment might mean that he is missing out on a lot of things, but there is one thing the criminal can't complain about.
This one thing is not having enough fans or admirers, or not being popular enough. Simply put, tens of thousands (maybe even hundreds of thousands) of people now know exactly who Jeremy Meeks is, and these folks seem unable to stop talking about him.
Having everybody know who you are might sound like a dream come true to some people, but the problem is that Jeremy Meeks has never intended to become this popular. On the contrary, I for one think him to be a victim of the social media and its habit of destroying anonymity.
What I mean is that, for some reason, the online community has considered Jeremy Meeks' hot looks a good enough reason (perhaps a better word here would be “excuse”) to put his life under a microscope, even make suggestions about what the 30-year-old man could do to become a better person.
Regardless of what Jeremy Meeks may or may not be guilty of, I'm convinced he is well entitled to his privacy, and I'm pretty sure that, were the thousands of people who have until now commented on his life ever to find themselves in his position, they would see things quite differently than they now do.
These being said, let us move on to discussing Jeremy Meeks' rise to fame and what his story can teach us about the dangers of social media. Mind you, I'm not trying to convince you to quit Facebook or anything of the sorts, I just want to emphasize that with great power comes great responsibility.
The Cold Hard Facts
On June 19, the Stockton Police Department in California, US, posted the mugshot of Jeremy Meeks on its official Facebook page. In the photo's description, Meeks is portrayed as “a 30-year-old man, convicted felon, arrested for felony weapon charges.”
In a nutshell, it looks like this 30-year-old man first got in trouble with the law back in 2002. He has until now been found guilty of robbery and having beaten up a 17-year-old. What's more, he has been identified as a member of the Northside Gangster Crips gang.
This June, Jeremy Meeks, together with three other men, was taken into police custody for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, carrying a firearm in public, and being involved in criminal street gang activity. Simply put, being a really bad boy is what put him behind bars.
Thus, in a recent interview, a police officer in charge of investigating the case has stressed that “It's been a long term investigation over many weeks and Mr. Meeks' gang was identified as the most violent and active gang in the area.”
The (Over)Reaction
By some people's standards, Jeremy Meeks is one really good-looking man. Hence the fact that his mugshot has until now scored nearly 100,000 likes on Facebook, has been shared almost 13,000 times, and has also received over 26,000 comments.
Of the people who have taken the time to check out this photo, myriads have felt the need to point out just how gorgeous his blue eyes are, how perfectly shaped and masculine his jawline is, and how well defined his cheekbones are.
Some of these people (mostly the ladies) have even expressed a romantic interest in the 30-year-old man. “I might just have to hold him hostage for a while!” a woman writes on Facebook. “I know he's naughty but Jesus, he's beautiful. Those lips. Them eyes. That jaw. Gorgeous,” another fan adds.
As if such comments were not enough, a few of Jeremy Meeks' admirers even went as far as to Photoshop him into fashion adds, and suggest that he should be released from prison and encouraged to embrace a career in modeling.
On the other hand, the media made sure to feed this frenzy by running what seems to be an endless string of articles detailing the 30-year-old man's life, including his relationship with his mother, his wife and his little boy.
Long story short, Jeremy Meeks got way more attention than he ever dreamt or wanted to, and chances are, should he be released from prison, he will find it downright impossible to walk down the street without having people point and stare at him.
Not Just a Pretty Face
I hate to break it to you, but the one word that best describes what social media has done to Jeremy Meeks is the following: “to objectify.” In other words, something tells me that, of the thousands of people who have until now liked or shared his mugshot on Facebook, most of them only saw a pretty face.
Granted, the 30-year-old man is rather good looking. However, this does not give anybody the right to plaster his face all over the Internet, let alone turn it into a meme and photoshop it into fashion adds. Not when Jeremy Meeks did not ask for any of this to happen.
What strikes me the most is that the majority of the people who were too quick to label this man as a hot mess and make jokes at his expense are women. This is puzzling because women are supposedly sick and tired of being objectified by men.
Yet, here they are, doing the same thing that they have been complaining about since forever. Hence, it can only be concluded that there is nothing wrong with seeing someone as nothing more than a pretty face, just as long as that someone is not you.
The End of Anonymity
Personally, I really don't care all that much whether Jeremy Meeks is a violent criminal or a man who, according to his mother, 60-year-old Katherine Angier, used to be a gang member and is now trying to change his life and become a better person.
What grinds my gears is the fact that, simply because he happens to be a good-looking man, thousands have felt the need to dissect his life, put it under a microscope, and even comment on it. And by “comment” I mean make suggestions about how he should become a model, maybe even embrace a career in acting.
Call me crazy, but I don't think your looks should give people the right to pick apart your life for their entertainment alone, regardless of what illegal activities you may or may not be guilty of. Bottom line, Jeremy Meeks is a man like any other, and his life – accomplishments and mistakes – should be nobody's business but his own.
If he is indeed guilty of violent crimes and gunrunning, let the law handle him. It is not up to us to judge him or make suggestions about how he should become a model or an actor simply because people happen to like his looks and would like to see him on screen or on a runway.
Unlike Hollywood sweethearts, this man did not choose to make a career in entertainment. Still, he is now about as famous as the Kardashians or other celebs, except that he isn't exactly profiting from his fame. He got his 15 minutes of glory without even asking for them, and has lost his anonymity in the process.
I don't know about you, but I for one would hate it if, all of a sudden, my face were all over the news and thousands of people I don't even know started giving me advice about what I should and should not do, and I would hate it even more to have complete strangers discussing my personal life on the Internet.
So, let's just give the guy a break, OK? Sure, he's hot (or at least thousands of people seem to think that he is), but he is a human being and should be allowed to wash his own dirty laundry rather than have it dragged out in the open, where everybody can see it.