R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Have you heard of Lauren Bernat? No? Well, you might be more acquainted with her derrière thanks to her boyfriend and You Tube.

It seems that Lauren was unknowingly filmed by her nearest and dearest while using her Wii Fit Hula Game while in her undies. As any loved one would, he then posted it on You Tube. To date over 3 million people have viewed the video which shows the hapless girl gyrating her hips. You can read the story *here*.

Apparently she was livid when she found out and who could blame her? That is until she became an overnight celeb and claimed her fifteen minutes of fame. The only conclusion I am left with is that it is not okay to secretly film someone you care about and post it on the Internet UNLESS several million people view it and you make the news. There was I thinking it was not okay, full stop. Clearly I was unaware of the 'media rule' and not 'up' with modern morals.

With reality TV well and truly established, turning out, for the large part, untalented nobodies (with the exception of some shows which are based on talent) it is hardly surprising that such a banal clip would catch the eye of the media and rocket Lauren and her bottom to instant, if fleeting fame. What has surprised me is that she has apparently forgiven her boyfriend because so many people viewed the video. This leads me to wonder what the number of viewers has to be before such an act is forgiven? Is it one million, two million? Quite frankly if anyone did this to me they would be entering a world of pain. In my humble opinion, I think there is something wrong when someone is willing to court fame at just about any cost and if said fame interferes with our moral judgement in society.

There was speculation that this was an advertising stunt but all involved, including Nintendo deny it. Of course they do.

Surely this is an issue about R.E.S.P.E.C.T (as Aretha would say). Not just about the lack of it shown by her boyfriend but also self-respect? Here endeth the rant.