We live in a society that is very forgiving. To some.
In the United States, I am sure in other countries as well, celebrities are a different breed of human. We trust them, look up to them, and are influenced by them whether they are logically deserving of this or not. We devote magazines to follow their every move. As a country, we are obsessed. This is why it is not surprising that we hold different expectations for them when it comes to punishment for their crimes.
We will look at the example of Robert Downey Jr. The image to the left is his mug shot (one of his many). Downey has been arrested with cocaine, heroin, marijuana, Valium, and sundry pills. He has been caught violating his parole several times, has been arrested for drunk driving, been caught in possession of an unloaded pistol, and the list continues. Despite his long list of criminal acts, Downey has been to jail twice - once for four months and a second time for one year (out of a three year sentence). Despite his history of parole violations, courts continuously put Downey on parole instead of sending him to prison. In his second jail sentence he was released early so that he could shoot a film. But his lack of serious sentencing isn't what interests me most or what really says something about our society.
This is: In 2008 he was ranked #60 in Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the world. He starred in the outrageously popular movie Iron Man and has been referred to as "everyone's lovable screw-up."
Robert Downey Jr. is certainly not the only one to be quickly forgiven, even embraced, by America after spending time in prison or committing a crime. Martha Stewart went on to start a reality tv show after she was found guilty and sentenced to house arrest for obstructing justice and lying to investigators. Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Lindsay Lohan have also had their fare share of run-ins with the law.
The point I am trying to make is, why can we happily embrace our former criminal celebrities and still consider ex-convicts a nuisance to our society? Why do we let celebrities out of jail to make movies, but won't hire formerly incarcerated people to allow them to get back on their feet? How are we able to quickly allow these celebrities back into our hearts and allow them to influence our lives (as Downey's high ranking of influence shows) while we disenfranchise ex-convicts by not allowing them to vote?
Like I said before. We are a forgiving nation. To some.
By the way - I love Robert Downey Jr. I'm not trying to hate on him or anything.
8 comments:
This is such a refreshing point of view! I hadn't even related Paris Hilton's or Linday Lohan's 3-hour sentences to your blog, but it's definitely something to think about!
Some have been in prison a few times, yet we don't see them as criminals and continue to "adore" them, why is there such a big difference?
Petra -
I am so glad you liked this blog. I have asked the same question myself. I'm guessing the difference probably lies in wealth, good-looks, and well-knownness (I know this isn't a word, I just could think of another way of putting it). After I wrote the blog I did come up with one that it seems was thought of as a criminal, not completely but more so than most. Wynona Rider didn't do films for quite a while after she was caught shop-lifting. Maybe it was because her crime seemed so selfish - someone rich stealing clothing. But I really can't be sure.
While the star factor plays into it heavily, I think it comes down to money. Robert Downy Jr. has the money to pay for his own top quality lawyers. With better lawyers comes general better result.
Of course stars shouldn't be able to get away with these legal matters. Just think of the precedent we are forming in peoples' minds on how they view crime.
I agree...I actually read an article where this same discrimination happened with McCain's wife. She had a drug abuse problems. She was in charge of ordering drugs as a volunteer for some organization (can't remember exactly what) and would just take them for herself. She was eventually discovered but nothing happened. Keeping this in mind, McCain advocates that drug offenses should result in prison time.
d.r. -
I think that is a great point you made. I also read about McCain's wife's drug problem. I would be very interested in hearing what McCain would say if he was asked whether he believes his wife should have served time to stay consistent with his views on drug crimes. It could point out a lot of hypocrisies in his platform.
Very Interesting post! I believe that the reason for our nations "turn the other cheek mentality is simple; its hard to be harsh to people we like. Movie gowers respect talent and it is obvious the RD.jr. is very talented (Iron man was incredible). We all feel like we know these celebrities because, they are very easily accessible; before every big movie premiers, the air-waves are bombarded with trailers and commercials about the movie. Its hard to fully prosecute people you feel close to.
Also people are forgiving because they feel that when celebrities make mistakes, they seem more human. I believe the mentality of "everyone makes mistakes"...Great post.
Ivan Kweku -
I agree with you completely. We see these celebrities so often, we feel like we know them, like we know they are good people. It would be like a friend going to jail - even if they are guilty you know they aren't a hazard to society because you know them, you trust them. Other criminals seem scary because they are anonymous. We only see their crime and not who they are, the life they live, the people they love. It is hard to bring logic before emotion on something like this.
Good point, a rapper comes out of prison and all the sudden they sell more tracks than they sold before they went in. As sad as it might sound, but money talks in our society.Its not just with the movie celebs, we forgive anyone that entertains us and we like. You sould check out this big soccer player called Joey Barton, he has been in jail on multiple times and yet he always finds out a way out, never spends the whole sentenced time. Its a disgrace.
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