英语阅读：Naked truths
This month last year, a bunch of snapshots of Hong Kong star Edison Chenand several starlets engaged in extremely explicit scenes surfaced online.
Questions lingered for many days before the photos' authenticities were
verified.
This week, an even bigger star appeared, seminude, in dozens of photos made
public and betraying no hint of PhotoShop meddling.
Zhang Ziyi, of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame, was snapped lying on a
beach with her fianc Vivi Nevo in a series of images that can be called intimate
but not exactly inappropriate by Western standards.
OK, I'll be frank. Without the benefits of illustration, the photos seem to
have caught the couple in the first phase of foreplay.
So, it was deja vu all over again, but a major letdown nonetheless for
those who have exposed themselves to Chen and his flashing light bulbs.
Is there a pattern here?
Are we to be treated to confidential images of movie stars during the lull
between New Year's Day and the Chinese New Year from now on?
Will it grow into a new tradition a la the monster CCTV gala?
Who will be 2010's star caught in a moment of titillation or stark
exposure?
The key difference between Zhang's case and Chen's is morality.
Zhang is engaged to the person in the photos; Chen was not. What Zhang did
was normal to most people, and what Chen did was outrageous to many.
If it was a private beach, as rumored, or a public nude beach, Zhang and
her fianc did not break any rules of propriety. Of course, it can also be argued
that Chen's conduct only involved consenting adults.
But if you look at some of the online reactions, you'll detect traces of
male chauvinism and shallow nationalism.
While many were initially shocked to come face to face with Chen's
"licentiousness", there was a gradual increase in expressions of envy among
China's netizens. What man doesn't want this kind of "emperor's treatment", they
asked.
With Zhang, the interracial interplay obviously got on the nerves of those
under the illusion that they would have dated "China's gift to Hollywood" had a
white man not preempted their dream.
Now let's imagine if it had been Chen with a white woman. I bet he would be
hailed as a hero among the testosterone-drenched but sexually starved nerds
hunched over their Lenovo notebooks.
There are people who condemn Chen and Zhang with equal gusto. Celebrities
should uphold the moral and behavioral standards of our day, they maintain. But
they seem to have forgotten that celebrities have their private lives as well,
and it's none of our business.
However, things can get complicated because celebrities have public
personas, and the rises and falls of their careers are based on that. This blurs
the line between their public and private existences.
As long as they are seen in public, even if it's because of paparazzi or
computer leaks, the private side becomes integrated into the public facade.
From that, you can argue it's their responsibility to "keep on playing the
role" unless they're absolutely sure it won't become public knowledge.
In a sense, it's just like their makeup and wardrobe. They can be dressed
however they like, but once seen, it will affect others' perceptions of
them.
Now, let's turn the tables and focus on the audience.
If you conduct a survey about public opinion on paparazzi, it will be
predominantly negative.
But if you ask around as to who would refuse to view private photos taken
by paparazzi or leaked by computer repairmen, I'll be shocked if many go
along.
In other words, most people know paparazzi intrude on others' privacy,
which is morally reprehensible, but they would gladly enjoy the fruits of this
labor. Few realize that it's public interest that sustains the livelihoods of
paparazzi, and, therefore, few would come away from a viewing session with a
guilty conscience.
Now, with a print media outlet, it's more clear-cut: You buy a copy and you
support what its photographers do, including sneaking around stars' hangouts and
filming them in awkward moments.
But once the platform moves online, it becomes a whole new ballgame.
There's a sense of altruism: One forwards these kinds of images to a network of
friends as if they were self-generated jokes. Few are troubled by ethical or
legal implications.
The communal atmosphere of the Internet intersects with the communal nature
of celebrity information.
In the old days, people gossiped about their neighbors. In the digital age,
tidbits about entertainment luminaries form the common threads that bond us
together, providing us with topics for conversations and armchair
theorizing.
The Internet-addicted generation has such a voluminous appetite for tabloid
information that it would appear to make up most of their knowledgebase. Or so
it seems to me.
What does it have to do with me, at all, if Zhang Ziyi makes out with her
fiance?
I'm not her family member, nor am I even her friend or acquaintance. If she
did not go out with a media tycoon, she would not have dated me - the chances
are less than one in a million.
Why should I care?
Likewise, Chen's photographic activities do not tell me what I should or
should not do.
I never equate the roles he played with his real self. Some people talk
about stars as if they're their bosom buddies. But they are not. All the
mountains of information about them are only good for killing time.
As for the pervasiveness of explicit images online, these images are
basically compensating for the lack of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition,
or, more bluntly, the absence of real porn.
Most portal sites in China look like a high school boy's fantasy room, with
half naked women in all kinds of postures.
I guess that's the reason several of the most heavily trafficked websites
in China were cited for "low and vulgar practices" and became a target for a Net
nanny campaign.
This reminds me of a brief scene from the Swan Lake ballet in a classic
Soviet film, which was the only provocative image of feminine allure allowed
during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).
People flocked to the theater just to see it. For a long time, ballet and
body-hugging period dramas from the West served a purpose other than artistic
appreciation.
My grandma complained that Western women were naked from the waist up and
Western men from the waist down. She would have understood the fuss about Zhang
wearing a bikini on a beach.
The era of movie stars crouching and hidden under a protective layer of
puppetry has phased out. Instead, we now have the industry standard of "any
exposure is good exposure".
Some netizens even suspect Zhang orchestrated the beachside-fondling
incident to unseat Vivian Chow and Joel Nieh, whose breakup and makeup story had
monopolized headlines recently.
Ultimately, it is Zhang's own business if she is relaxing under the sun or
rehearsing under the glare of the camera.
You can critique her work, but don't intrude on her privacy.
You're not part of her life, so don't let her be part of yours.
Go get your own life.
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