Thanks for joining me Over Coffee
A writer by passion and profession, I've been writing since I was old enough to know how, so establishing a weblog
seemed a natural progression. By adding a blog to my site, I can speak about my passions and life, share my writing, art
and photos, and comment on current events.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Beyoncé, you got punked...
At least, that's what you might hear if this eBay auctioned meal had been arranged by Ashton and broadcast on MTV. But, it was PETA peeps pulling the strings.
Now, would you even think these headlines were for the same story?
And, if you did, what would you suppose the facts of the incident to be? You'd probably imagine people stalking the petite singer and her loved ones at her home or protestors outside a hotel or concert venue suddenly closing in around her as she tried desperately to exit to her tour bus. Perhaps red paint or tofu-cream pies might come to your mind's eye, visualizing poor little Beyonce running to her limo fur flying in all directions.
Would you guess that (1) the animal rights activists in question paid for the privilege of dinner with Beyonce, (2) their “confrontation” was to hold a polite conversation with her and attempt show her a PETA-produced PSA video about fur on a portal DVD player or (3) that THEY, after paying for that chance to eat with the celebrity, were thrown out of the restaurant?
You can check out the footage on TMZ.com for yourself, and you'll note that the activists didn't make a big scene, didn't shout insults or slogans, throw food, make any physical contact with anyone at the table or pose any threat to either their tablemates or other diners at the restaurant. The articles don't necessarily say either way, but the headlines imply more malicious activity by using words like "attack" and "fur flying" than either the facts or the news stories themselves can demonstrate. Also, the accounts call Beyonce "stunned," but she looks bored and indifferent throughout most of the conversation (both just before and after fur became the subject) while her handlers get upset, speak for her and eventually order the activists to leave. A request followed up on by restaurant staff escorting them out.
You have to hand it to the media, they can make any celebrity outing larger than real life. Still, thanks to Beyoncé being blasé and her entourage being excitable and dismissive, the outing accomplished PETA's goal of bringing more attention to how fur coats make their way from their original owners, the animals, to retailers.
So, I'll stick by my headline: Beyoncé you got punked...PETA-style.
p.s. Shame on any reporter/media outlet that uses quotes out of order or context to support a more sensational story when people can actually view the video in it's entirety and see the order of statements.
