This week HBO premiered Adrian Grenier’s documentary Teenage Paparazzo. Grenier, most well know for his star role as Vince on HBO’s ‘Entourage’, does an extremely well job exploring the meaning being the paparazzi scene in Hollywood. Grenier is as curious about them as they are about him, and with this film he objectively tries to understand their purpose in entertainment. The focus of the film is on 14-year-old Austin Visschedyk, the teenage paparazzo. Grenier goes along with Austin on photo runs in order to understand the complex relationship between the paparazzi and celebrities. As if the paparazzi culture wasn’t already complicated enough, Grenier wonders why a young teenager would want to be apart of the business. Grenier admits that his fictional character he plays on television has become blurred with his reality. He wonders if he can ever escape the role of Vince in his real life. He explains that it is sometimes hard for him to view paparazzi as normal people, and he wants to know why. Throughout the film Grenier interviews different celebrities including Paris Hilton, Eva Longoria Parker, Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon, and Lindsay Lohan. He also interviews well-known paparazzi veterans to see both sides of the entertainment spectrum. Grenier speaks with different professionals in the media field including college professors and authors on the topic. He even makes a visit to OK! Magazine to get the editors thoughts’ on the paparazzi culture.
Important themes examined throughout the film include: Are the paparazzi responsible for making people famous? Would celebrities have no careers without paparazzi photos? Do paparazzi just want to be apart of fame? Without paparazzi, would we have pop culture? Are celebrities, something everyone has in common, just an outlet for people to gossip about, which is the core of human nature? Grenier decides to be paparazzi for the day to see what it is like on their end. When he finds out that some paparazzi are afraid he is trying to exploit them, he raises the concern of a double standard. If photographers can take his photograph and spin it into a story, then why shouldn’t he be able to interview them? Teenage Paparazzo is an excellent film that examines both sides of the entertainment industry, and raises thought provoking questions about how the media has evolved. Before you check out the film, ask yourself this: does pop culture exist because of paparazzi, or does paparazzi exist because of pop culture?
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