14 DAY TRIAL // It's interesting to see how the Internet manages to bring out the absolute best and worst of us. Sadly, the scales are vigorously tipped in favor of the worst rather than the best. The reason for that is that the Internet offers blissful anonymity, and people often find that this is the best way to say what's really on their mind.
It was this blissful anonymity that made possible the biggest leak in celebrity intimate photos, that literally rocked the entertainment media. As the search now begins for the hacker who managed to get his hands on the personal photos of stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Ariana Grande and Victoria Justice, we are left with the moral issue of why so many of us actually clicked on the photos and actively sought to see them by any cost.
Let there be no doubt in your mind, this was a criminal offense, a clear violation of these women's privacy, and one that deserves a swift punishment. But because most of the women affected are young and attractive celebrities, it somehow made it more acceptable.
Because we've seen Jennifer Lawrence or Kate Upton on TV, in movies and on magazine covers, it somehow became OK to ogle at them in their privacy. Perhaps it was because we formed a bond with them that subconsciously made it right to see them in the buff, but more likely it was man’s weird curiosity that drove us to willingly break our moral codes.
After the leak took place, many fans, most of them women, sympathized with Lawrence and were outraged that so many men whom they swiftly dubbed “pigs” were not only looking at the photos, but making collections out of them and sharing them on the Internet.
The weird thing is that the same category of people who cried out for decency have already viewed the photos in the privacy of their homes, actively taking part in the crime. Discussions soon emerged about the morality and legality of the issue, but it was done by people who had seen the photos and had already found a moral excuse for themselves that was good enough to separate them from the “pigs.”
This kind of controversy brings into question the issue of whether the scandal would have had such a big impact, had it been linked to a non-relevant person, or, better yet, a person that was vastly more unpopular. Think of the most annoying person in showbiz today for you and imagine that the leak was connected to them. Would you have looked at the photos then? Probably not.
So, why then did we look at photos of Jennifer Lawrence, whom almost everyone considers to be not only a good actress, but a very down-to-earth person with a laid-back style and a wicked sense of humor?
The answer is complicated to pin down but it has a lot to do with hypocrisy and the fact that the Internet makes it easy to pass judgment on others while remaining faceless. It's so comfortable to sit at your laptop and shake your head in disgust at today's morals only after you too took part in the crime.
The sad part is that a large portion of those who saw the photos aren't even regretting it, thinking it was only a natural act, because, after all, these celebrities “were asking for it.” In this day and age, where everything is digitized, and computers are all connected, it's really easy for someone to get your private information.
The only reason this hasn't happened to you yet is that no one tried that hard. But for celebrities, it's not like that, their privacy comes under attack every day, and every once in a while, the attacker succeeds. Because there is no foolproof way of protecting your privacy, especially on the Internet.
The proof that this wasn't a publicity stunt is in the sheer number of celebrities involved in the leak. Sure, one or two celebs could have been a staged event (something that sadly has become more frequent in our present society), but 100 famous people all at once can't be a coordinated effort.
Inevitably, we reach the “what if it was you” argument, which is, in my opinion, a poor defense of the case, but it's the first one to be used by many in this situation. Your first reaction is going to be that “I'm not that dumb,” thinking that there is no way you'd allow compromising photos of yourself to land in someone else's hands.
And your first reaction would be wrong. The bottom line is that as soon as you've digitized any photo or video, that piece of material becomes subject to a possible theft. Again, the only reason they don't leak is that nobody wants to see those rude photos you took that one time on vacation, or that weird dance you did in front of the camera when you were home alone.
But for celebrities it's a different story, and technology is sadly not on their side. When it has become possible to retrieve material even after it's been deleted from a computer hard drive or a memory card, it's virtually impossible to hide anything anymore – and this cloud technology isn't helping at all.
As always, the mixture of celebrities and technology is an explosive one, simply because of our fascination with both. Were the girls careless when they uploaded their photos to some virtual account they had no idea about how it worked? Probably. Was the fact that you took time out of your day to watch those photos a hypocritical thing to do? Definitely.
If you've done that, you basically lost the right to complain about the NSA invading your own privacy.