Stalking, Sneaking and Skulldugery
For many people Harry Styles is a household name. He’s a megastar, a former boybander who was one of the biggest male artists in the world and an incredibly talented actor. He’s charming, sweet and kind to all and his message is literally treat people with kindness- but does that message apply to him? Should Harry be treated with kindness? I mean he’s a celebrity right- so it’s okay to follow him and take sneaky pictures of him, even after he’s kindly asked you not to- right? No, wrong! Wrong on so many levels.
Harry is a human being and one who deserves privacy as much as you or I do. He deserves to be able to be just Harry and not Harry Styles™ all the time. He also deserves to be able to go to the gym, to the shops or to a restaurant without people sneaking pictures of him while he’s living his life. When he’s on stage performing- take as many damn pictures as you like, but while he’s offstage and you see him, treat him with dignity, respect and compassion. If you ask for a photo and he declines- respect that and let him be. He is not a performing monkey and whether he’s out with family, friends or his team- he shouldn’t have to keep his guard up and his eyes peeled for sneaky fans waiting to snap photos of him when he’s just living.
Can you imagine how that must feel? Can you imagine how stressful and anxiety-inducing it must be to go to the shops and know that if you have a banging headache, or a stomachache or are in a bad mood or are upset that someone will demand a picture of you and if you decline as is your right, they’ll just take one anyway? Could you live like that?
We’ve watched Harry in the public eye since he was sixteen years old and we should know to treat him better, to let him offer pictures instead of demanding and we should also appreciate that he might not want to talk to fans because he shouldn’t ever have to feel obliged to. Harry should be able to live his life without fans intruding or being nasty online about how he declined to pose for a picture.
Just because he’s a celebrity and you want to show off doesn’t mean you can ignore his wishes and force a picture out of him. Taking picture of him working out, or of his back as he walks away is awful and he must feel unsafe outside because of fans who treat him as though he’s an object to be gawked at and not a person. He’s not releasing music at the moment, as far as we are aware anyway, he’s not promoting a movie, or a brand and right now especially in light of the fact he lost a very dear friend and bandmate, it should be the time his own fans respect him enough and offer him enough compassion to allow him to decide whether or not to interact with you.
Update accounts should never ever share an artist’s location, or pictures taken of the artist without their consent because it encourages stalking, encourages people to ignore common courtesy by demanding and abusing Harry. He deserves better from his update accounts, from his fans and from people in general. It’s high time artists were respected and given grace to just be when they are not working and if you approach someone and they decline a picture then that should be respected.
Every artist has a life, has a family and has a personality behind their public persona and that should be something that everyone accepts and respects. Artists are not only there to entertain us, but are allowed to have bad days, to feel shy, withdrawn and to not want their pictures taken. If you can’t respect that, are you even a fan? And if you end up driving Harry out of showbusiness then it’s on you because he has always, always deserved better fans than those who use him for clout, for five minutes of fame and for visibility. Not everything needs to be posted online and not everyone needs to know you met a celebrity. They are people too and they have a right to privacy and good times where they can just be who they are without the threat of pictures being taken or their location being leaked online.
Do better, be better and be the fans Harry truly deserves.
Behind the Curtains.
Add comment
Comments