14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since paparazzi photos showing Kristen Stewart making out with another man than her boyfriend Robert Pattinson saw the light of day, she's been vilified in unspeakable ways. Here's why we should all stop judging her and pointing our finger at her as if she's worse than a killer.
The latest print issue of The Hollywood Reporter (and its online version as well) comes with a lengthy letter from an anonymous industry insider who boasts of a “non-anonymous role with a massive multiplayer media monolith,” which is basically an explanation of why Kristen should be left alone already.
For a bit of context: Kristen and Robert dated for about 3 years and, because of their roles in “The Twilight Saga,” they were one of the hottest, most popular couples in showbiz.
She cheated on him with Rupert Sanders, the director of “Snow White and the Huntsman,” who also happens to be married with children. Photos of them kissing were released in the US glossies and online.
The backlash has been harsh – almost unfathomably so. As the media specialist writes, fans (Twi-hards) not only dumped Kristen like a bag of coals, but they also chose to show their outrage at what she's done by wearing “trampire” tees and spewing hate on various forums.
They basically chose to dethrone her as their idol because of a mistake she's done in her personal life, which probably proves they were never real “fans” from the start because they couldn't draw the line between Kristen the actress and Kristen the celebrity.
The industry insider also tackles the topic of celebrity in relation to the scandal. Kristen is one, whether she likes it or not, and her biggest mistake was trying to solve the situation in an honest manner, by issuing that much-derided apology for cheating.
However, being a celebrity doesn't mean that we (the public in general) can take her and have her face the firing squad for something that happens daily in the real world as well, particularly in showbiz, the letter goes on to note.
It's cold reasoning, but it's probably true.
The insider further argues that Kristen is already paying the price for her ill-fated mistake (she's lost Robert), so the world wouldn't have to make her suffer even more than she already is – the industry people out of all.
“First, the director she was making out with was fired from the Snow White and the Huntsman sequel. That was stupid enough. Then maybe he wasn’t fired. Instead, it’s KStew who’s off the project. Huh? The sequel to Snow White will go off… without Snow White?” the insider writes.
“Because the starlet was making out with somebody other than her fan-approved boyfriend? Now the jihad is extending to her career as a vampire! Fan conventions for the 1,475th iteration of the Twilight saga are being canceled. No promotional work for you, young lady!” s/he goes on to say.
In this rush to have Kristen pay, we seem to have lost sight of the crime she's supposed to pay for in the first place.
“Come on, people. Who are we talking about here? Fatty Arbuckle? Roman Polanski? The madness has to stop! Was the famous head of one of the greatest Hollywood studios fired back in the '30s when he was known to require that a new starlet be delivered to his office every day after lunch?” the insider asks.
He wasn't.
The letter ends with a word of advice from the insider: instead of hating on Kristen or even on Rupert, we'd probably be better off hating on those who made their indiscretion public by hounding them and taking their picture from the bushes, without consent. Yes, the paparazzi.
“Take all that righteous indignation and focus it where it belongs – on the sleazy, greasy, predatory pond scum who stalk the underbrush with their high-powered digital gear, prying into other people’s lives and selling the stinking evidence of their targets’ frailty back to us in poisonous morsels,” the insider says.
*Editor's note: we can't say we agree with all of the above because this whole celebrity thing / argument is a blade that cuts both ways, so we're opting out of the debate.
Nevertheless, we'd love to hear your thoughts on this: do you think Kristen has been vilified enough and her crime blown out of proportion? Should the world just leave her alone already, or should she be held to some higher standards than us mortals because she happens to be in the spotlight?