Picture: Carrie Bradshaw’s House in the West Village from “Sex in the City”
I posted about this yesterday on Facebook and a full blown debate ensued between many people that don’t know each other. So I figured, I’d expand on the story a bit.
My friend Camilla and I were walking down W.11th Street in West Village yesterday–enjoying the first day it has actually felt like spring in NYC–when we were overtaken by nothing short of a Paparazzi horror movie. One of the guys was on a motorized scooter, a few guys were frantically running to position and there were a few other cameramen on bikes. These were just the guys trying to get out ahead of the shot. The only question on my mind at the time was, “what celebrity is in the vicinity” ? We waited for a second, looked across the street and saw Sarah Jessica Parker, walking with a friend, pushing a double-stroller with her two babies (I later found out that the babies are twins—and were carried by a surrogate). She was completely surrounded, although, they were giving her at least 15 yards of space on all sides–so I assume that there must be some sort of code to stalking celebrities. In total, the scumbags numbered at about 30–maybe more. All of them angling, snapping 100 pictures a second. I found this entire experience to be extremely disturbing. It made it much worse that she was with a female friend–and two young children. There didn’t seem to be any security at all around.
Camilla and I proceeded to get a cup of coffee and talk over what just happened. I suppose this might be a part of the West Village that I have never experienced before. This sort of thing certainly doesn’t happen in Clinton Hill, or in Park Slope, or in the East Village. I lived in the East Village for years and ran into celebrities all the time. There was never any commotion like this and never any paparazzi. When comparing New York to L.A, I always thought in New York there was this unspoken rule that “people are people,” and to just let them be. I learned this weekend that this is not exactly the case.
There is no denying that there is something poetic in nature about Sarah Jessica Parker in the West Village (not that this excuses the scene we found ourselves in the middle of). They actually have Sex in the City walking tours that walk by my my current apartment. Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw and the West Village are synonymous with one another ( I know that and I’ve never seen a single episode). I also think its great that people love this show and it’s characters so much.
Nonetheless, I cannot help but feel deep in my gut that all of this celebrity worship proves that there is something is seriously out of whack with our culture. Maybe I am being idealistic, but I don’t care who you are–—I think you should be able to take your kids to the park in New York without having to endure a 3-ring scumbag circus.
I wonder how much cash US weekly paid for the cover pictures that were taken that day? I’m sure the pix will be in issues this week. However, what might be the bigger, more important question, is how many copies of US weekly (and other tabloids) will be sold with Sarah Jessica Parker on the cover this week? Because in the end, the people who are responsible for all of this, are the people that are spending their money consuming these magazines.
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