Shipping Real People Is NOT OK.

annenevillereviews:

I almost understand real-person shipping.

We see the onscreen chemistry. We see the backstage photos. We see the cuteness on the red carpet. And sometimes, we pick up a copy of US in the doctor’s office or the grocery store. We look at the paparazzi photos and think about how great Actor A and Actor B would be together. What’s the harm?, we think. It’s just a fantasy.

They’re celebrities. They’re public property. They chose that lifestyle. They are here to entertain us. That’s what they are paid for.

And then, at some point, we are no longer saying “Aw, isn’t that a cute photo of Actor A and Actor B together?” We are fantasizing that they are together. We are writing fanfic about them. We are building up evidence that they are in fact a couple.

Maybe this real-people-ship actually is together. Maybe it’s a real relationship. Maybe it’s a PR relationship. Or maybe they aren’t together at all, and both actors have significant others. But gosh darn it, they’re so hot together, and on screen they have such chemistry, it’s meant to be, and we, the consumers, have a right to consume the product that is Actor A and Actor B.

Then, some people begin to fantasize about Actors A and B together. Others write fanfiction. Others roleplay. Others do photo manipulations. Even pornographic ones. Is that right? Is that fair? Would you want people doing that to you?

You have your freedom of speech, of course. There’s freedom of the press. Until you cross the line into slander or libel, there’s little Actors A and B can do about your fantasy. And maybe–just maybe–you are doing little harm in your little corner, writing your real-life-ship fanfic and doing your photosets.

But then you get a few crazy people. They dig the real-life-ship, too. They believe it. They believe it so much that they harass anyone who gets close to Actors A and B. They harass co-workers. They harass friends. They abuse significant others. And why?

Because they love their ship, and they have a right to it, dammit. Celebrities are communal property, after all. They chose to be in the public eye. They knew the risks. Some even encourage it through PR romances, which have had a long history in Hollywood. They gave up their right to their bodies and their privacy when they took that first step onto the stage or screen. 

Right?

Wrong. Celebrities are people. Just people. Just like you and me. They are people who need to have solid relationships to thrive. They are people who would probably like more than anything to wake up and live their lives the best they can, as normally as they can. 

Celebrities who play macho sex symbols on screen cry backstage because they have a cold and are afraid they’ll disappoint their audience.

Matinee-idols going through a divorce have heart-crushing reactions when they are shown a picture of themselves out with a friend that has the caption calling the friend their new “girlfriend.”

Celebrities who are considered by the world to be sex symbols stick venetian blind slats in their nostrils, or sit in front of their mirrors, denigrating their looks. And they actually believe they are unattractive.

Celebrities get terrible stage-fright.

Celebrities dress like normal people, look like normal people, talk like normal people, ARE normal people.

Some are nice. Some are jerks. Some are sad. Some are messed up. Some are misunderstood or under-appreciated. Some are stuck-up, and some are shockingly considerate, even to the tiniest tadpole in the pond.

They all have good and bad days. And some celebrities, celebrities who are scrutinized not only by their audiences, not only by US magazine, but by people who want to force them into a fake relationship just because it suits some members of their audience, have really bad days.

Days when they receive hate because their real lives as real people don’t meet up with an anonymous horde’s fantasy.

I can’t stop anyone from shipping real people. But I will say, and I will stand by this statement: Shipping real people is NOT OK. Even if it is legal. Even if you think your one, tiny fic or photo-manipulation is meaningless. 

It’s not. It’s a drop in the ocean, but that ocean swells. And the more it grows, the more deluded people arrive. The more they believe. The bigger the conspiracy theories grow. And the more dangerous (yes, I said dangerous) it gets for the real, living, breathing men and women involved.

For the celebrity (a completely normal person, mark me). For the celebrity’s friends. For their family. For their real significant others. For their imagined significant others. For their children.

So next time you think that shipping real people is harmless, stop and think. Remember that these are people who have feelings, who deserve to have lives, who are paid for a job that ought to be allowed to end once their work day is over. These are people who laugh and cry and feel like you and me. THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO PRIVACY.

Would you ship Susie and Bob from your office? Would you like it if Susie shipped you and Bob together and started writing porn about you and posting it to the internet? If Susie threatened your spouse? If others picked up on it, analyzed every photo of you and Bob that existed, and came up with all kinds of conspiracy theories about you?

No? You wouldn’t like that?

Then don’t ship Actors A and B. Because the simple truth is that this shit does harm. Real harm. To real people.

Shipping Real People Is NOT OK.