Celebrity treatment

[JenM]

I think you're both missing what I'm saying here. Is it rude for people to gawk over these celebrities and try to capture their children in photos? Absolutely! I can understand why they would be upset. However, I don't see how their rights are being violated by this. Where in the US Constitution or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does it say that you have the right not to have your photos taken by strangers in public places?

Yes, if they are being physically assaulted, that's harassment. (I'm not condoning such behaviour in the least.) However, that is not what the poster that I was responding to was saying. They were talking about picture-taking and people making a general fuss over celebs and their families.

Here is a definition of harassment: (courtesy of http://www.thefreedictionary.com/harassment)

ha·rass
1. To irritate or torment persistently.
2. To wear out; exhaust.
3. To impede and exhaust (an enemy) by repeated attacks or raids.

Which means that incessantly badgering a celebrity by taking photos, invading their privacy by taking photos of their children, intruding on personal time with their family by asking for autographs--or otherwise to cause a general nuisance by not leaving them alone to enjoy their day at Disney World can be defined as harassment.

For example, I had friend who saw Derek Jeter at a vacation resort in the Caribbean. He had security, but people kept walking up and taking pictures of him wherever he went. No matter what he was doing, no matter how many times people were asked to stop, they did it anyway.

My friend said that he was really nice to his fans while he was there, he signed plenty of autographs and took pictures with people. But it was his vacation too, and even though he nicely made it clear to people at times respect his privacy and let him enjoy it, people just didn't respect that.

He said he admired Derek's ability not to lose his cool, because if it was him, he would have lost his temper about it really fast.

Yes, it's the price of fame and they have to deal with it...and yes, some abuse the perks that come with it, but everyone is entitled to private time with their family. And when people don't respect that and do all those rude things, it's harassment.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I think most of us are aware of what the word "harassment" means. However, there is a legal difference between being annoyed and being harrassed. Notice the words "persistently" and "repeated" in the definitions you provided. If ten different people come up to you one time each in the course of a day who are unassociated with each other and take a snap shot, then you can't very well claim your rights are being violated and demand that legal action be taken. There's a difference between feeling harassed (completely subjective) and being harassed in the eyes of the law (more objective).

That's the last I'll say about that. I don't see how I can be much clearer about my OPINION. You don't have to agree but that doesn't mean that you're right and I'm wrong or vice versa. Thanks for the conversation, though.

 

[JenM]

I think most of us are aware of what the word "harassment" means. However, there is a legal difference between being annoyed and being harrassed. Notice the words "persistently" and "repeated" in the definitions you provided. If ten different people come up to you one time each in the course of a day who are unassociated with each other and take a snap shot, then you can't very well claim your rights are being violated and demand that legal action be taken. There's a difference between feeling harassed (completely subjective) and being harassed in the eyes of the law (more objective).

That's the last I'll say about that. I don't see how I can be much clearer about my OPINION. You don't have to agree but that doesn't mean that you're right and I'm wrong or vice versa. Thanks for the conversation, though.

So the next time you're in WDW, and groups of strangers spend the day walking up to you and interrupting your family time, take pictures of you and your children (which ultimately wind up on the internet), hound you to sign stuff for them, push your relatives out of the way to get closer to you, and barge in on your meals...you're not going to think you're being harassed?

I doubt that.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

So the next time you're in WDW, and groups of strangers spend the day walking up to you and interrupting your family time, take pictures of you and your children (which ultimately wind up on the internet), hound you to sign stuff for them, push your relatives out of the way to get closer to you, and barge in on your meals...you're not going to think you're being harassed?

I doubt that.

Well, you're right. Those PhotoPass Photographers can get quite agressive but I haven't sued one of them yet.

 

[McRed]

In October of 2002, while on our Honeymoon, we were at Magic Kingdom riding the Peter Pan ride. We were approaching the final turn to the staging area where you get on and off, when we were stopped just before turning the corner. I could see where everyone else was getting off just to the left of me in the sunlight, and thought it was odd that we were exiting here. As we were walking away, I turned back to look behind at the gondola we were in, and there was Spike Lee and a little boy getting in.
I told my new bride that Spike Lee was taking over our spot, and of course she didn't know who he was. I haven't really thought much about it since then until reading this thread.