A Public Persona/A Private Life

The deep web exists as a perfectly legitimate contingent of the World Wide Web, on which we as a species have become so irrevocably dependent. It allows us to salvage some semblance of online privacy in a world of apparently total surveillance. However, within the deep web exists the dark web, a dangerous faction of an otherwise permissible space, on which exists the basal depravity of human nature. In March 2017, actresses Emma Watson and Amanda Seyfried were victims of hackers, which resulted in their intimate, private photos being circulated and sold on the dark web.

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The actions of the hackers, and the unspecified number of people who subsequently sought and viewed the photos, were widely condemned, and both women took legal action (BBC, 2017). Some commentators suggested that they were at fault; if they hadn’t wanted the photos to become public, they should never have taken them. That mentality is antiquated and antediluvian; it’s victim blaming. It places the onus on the victim to moderate their life and actions in an attempt to mitigate the occurrence of an assault, instead of on the perpetrator to not commit the crime. Everybody has a fundamental right to bodily autonomy; what they do or don’t do with it is entirely their choice. The existence of someone’s private property is not a challenge or invitation to exploit it as a commodity.

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As actresses, their work is available for public consumption; their private lives are not. It doesn’t come with the territory and it’s not an expected by-product of fame, to be accepted and endured - paparazzo outside your home is one thing; having your private photos stolen is another. It’s theft; a crime to be condemned, not a scandal to be sensationalised. A public persona and a private personal life are not, and should never be, mutually exclusive.

 

 

Reference List

 

BBC (2017) ‘Emma Watson private photos stolen in ‘hack’, BBC News, 15th March. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39280844 (Accessed: May10th 2017).

 

Bibliography

 

Addley, E. (2014) ‘Threat to post Emma Watson nude photos appears to be a hoax’, The Guardian, 24th September. Available at:  

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/24/threat-post-naked-photographs-emma-watson-hoax-4chan (Accessed: May 9th 2017).

 

Demaria, M. (2017) ‘Amanda Seyfried is taking legal action after private photo hack’, Refinery29, 16th March. Available at

http://www.refinery29.uk/2017/03/146267/amanda-seyfried-photos-hacked (Accessed: May 9th 2017).

 

Galanty, M. (2014) ‘If you don’t want people to steal your nude photographs, then don’t be nude (or: the sociology of the celebrity cell phone hacking scandal’, The Huffington Post, 9th August. Available at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galanty-miller/if-you-dont-want-people-t_b_5785592.html (Accessed: May 9th 2017).

 

Gay, R. (2014) ‘The Great 2014 Celebrity Nude Photos Leak is only the beginning’, The Guardian, 30th September. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/01/celebrity-naked-photo-leak-2014-nude-women (Accessed: May 9th 2017).

 

Nicolaou, E. (2017) ‘The Dark History of Celebrity Photo Hacks’, Refinery29, 16th March. Available at: http://www.refinery29.uk/2017/03/145746/fappening-nude-celebrity-photo-leaks-emma-watson (Accessed: May 9th 2017).

 

Robinson, R. (2015) ‘Emma Watson on how being threatened for speaing about feminism enraged and motivated her’, Vanity Fair, 8th March. Available at:  

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/03/emma-watson-feminism-threats-raging-heforshe (Accessed: May 9th 2017).

 

Vanity Fair (2014) ‘Cover Exclusive: Jennifer Lawrence Calls Photo Hacking a “Sex Crime”’, November. Available at:  

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/10/jennifer-lawrence-cover (Accessed: May 9th 2017).