Spin It prides itself on many things, but one in particular is its ability to coin terms (see above). Many famous people often get punchy, leading to sometimes embarrassing, but always hilarious, media attention. This past week in Springfield, MO, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco (who will be performing a solo show at Foellinger this Friday) turned the stage into a ring when a fan took him by surprise resulting in a Tweedy one-two number. Though he didn’t deliver a Wil-K.O. by any means … is it bad ass or just a bad rep?
Brian: Bad Ass
All I have to say is Paparazzi. The 2004 whirlwind thriller produced by Mel Gibson focuses on a new Hollywood heartthrob, Bo Laramie, expertly murdering a ring of fork-tongued photographers for causing a serious car accident in the midst of their lust of dirt on Bo. I pride myself on liking obscure, artistic films, but this 84-minute roller coaster of cinematic garbage stole my heart. It also led me to believe that it’s OK for celebrities/rock stars to throw some ‘bows … in fact, I encourage it.
In all honesty, Jeff’s incident wasn’t bad at all and he instantly apologized for the small scuffle. On the other hand, Jack White’s past outburst turned his opponent to a bloody mess. Nearly unprovoked, White (of The White Stripes) beat leader singer of The Von Bondies to a mere shell of what he once was. White pled guilty to charges of assault in 2004, but it only made me love him more. Beating up the pompous front man of a C-list, Dandy Warhols rip-off band was definitely a noble cause.
Violence is just cool, especially for a rock’n’roll-er. Trail of Dead member, Jason Reese, is known to bang his microphone into his forehead while breaking what he can on stage; needless to say, that is awesome. With only one step, transitive property says it’s just as cool (one may say “bad ass”) to do the same off the stage, in real life. Celebripunching, is A-OK.
Carlye: Bad Rep
So, Tweedy hit a dude in the face because he was trying to kiss him. But, why not just share the love?
I don’t think Jeff Tweedy should have attacked the fan that came on stage – I think he should have kissed him back. This alternative action would have shock value, show appreciation for his fans and maybe even be marketed to promote gay rights. But, in my opinion, the big issue is the star/paparazzi relationship.
Celebrities need to lay down the fists and pick up the scripts. (Wow … that’s kind of catchy and I didn’t even mean for it to be.) Famous people love, love, love being famous, but despise paparazzi who invade their privacy. You know, the photographers who take pictures of them, run the photos in newspapers, magazines and Web sites that are read by millions of people across the country, who then in turn recognize these musicians and actors, thus making them famous. Within the past few weeks, Avril Lavigne, Justin Timberlake, Cameron Diaz and Jake Gyllenhall all had their own paparazzi incidents. But, stars just don’t realize if they deck a photographer, they’re just being a huge fucking hypocrite.
I know, the typical reaction is, “But, it invades their privacyyyy!” Well, I say too goddamn bad. If you’re famous, your privacy is what you have to give up. Also, I personally believe that Lindsay Lohan being stumbling drunk outside of a bar or Kate Moss snorting a line of coke is totally free reign, while snapping pictures of them eating an ice cream cone is boring, not privacy-invading. Celebrities need to realize that they can’t choose what hours of the day they’re famous, and for which ones they want to go incognito.
