President Joe Biden had an unfortunate fall from his bike in front of a crowd of onlookers and press. So of course it’s the top story on right wing publications and being deconstructed frame by frame on Twitter. I recognize that type of fall. When I used to ride my bike often as a kid, I’ve had many a times when I’m dismounting from the bike and the top of my shoe gets caught on the peddle and I lose my balance and go down.
But if you grew up in a cycling town like me, and you even had formal bicycle riding lessons in school, then you know how to recover from common spills like that. The most important thing is that Joe Biden was wearing a helmet and that’s why you always wear a helmet when you’re riding a bike. Anyone who’s ridden a bike has at least once in their life had this happen to you. What’s in reality bizarre is that people love to fawn and creep over a high profile person or celebrity’s foibles and bad moments.
You see the headlines all the time especially in tabloids like People magazine who love to create drama and humor in celebs’ “they’re just like us!” moments. Whether it’s mommy and daddy “fails”or celebrities who humblebrag about something embarrassing that “hilarious” that happened when they met an even bigger celebrity, it’s all just a bunch of idiotic content that isn’t even real celebrity exclusives or news.
But coming up with new content is hard and anyone who’s a content strategist or marketer knows this. So yeah, I guess if you write a whole article about a celebrity tripping or yelling at a fan like Tom Hanks, then yes, it counts as content. The latest trend now I’m seeing on YouTube are creators giving their takes on Hollywood Nice Guy Tom Hanks saying the F bomb at fans for bumping into his wife Rita Wilson.
I’ve watched the clip and it looks like Tom and Rita are exiting from a restaurant or hotel and they’re swarmed by a bunch of male photographers and autograph seekers. What is odd is that there does appear to be security personnel there, but they don’t seem to be doing a good job at creating space between Tom and Rita from the crowd. It’s really strange, or maybe not, that all of the people stepping rudely into Tom and Rita’s personal space are a bunch of grown men. Any one of these men could have easily pulled out a gun or knife or even put their hands on Tom or Rita.
As they’re racing towards their waiting car, it appears that at one point, Rita stops walking suddenly and that causes an unexpected traffic jam and collision. And as we all know when we’re learning to drive, always stay at least 1.5 to 2 car lengths behind the car in front of you in case there is a sudden stop. And when you’re walking behind someone, keep your eyes ahead because you don’t know if they will suddenly pause for no reason.
It’s clear that the fans or photographers did not mean to bump into and startle Rita. She responded by sounding like an exasperated mother by putting her hands up and shouting “Stop it!” I find it insulting that these men aren’t bothering to get Rita’s picture or autograph. She’s an icon in her own right. Rita hasn’t done many huge roles, but I loved her in It’s Complicated. Rita is just perfectly made to be that supportive good friend and looks great doing it. Some actresses are always popping up as the mom character and I have no problem with Rita popping up in more romantic comedies as a best friend or single aunt who doesn’t give a damn character. And let’s not forget that a lot of credit goes to Rita for bringing us My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Tom Hanks only loses his cool when Rita is accidentally bumped into and how can you blame him? These strangers are already pushing their limits by being inches away from him and his wife, but then that’s why there would be an accident like that occur. Rita was in evening wear and high heels. She’s not dressed to outrun and battle through a crowd. She also appears to have a petite frame. Who knows if those big men bumping into her wouldn’t have caused her more physical harm like knocking her over to the ground. And as great as Rita looks, she is technically an older person at 65 years old.
I’m a huge fan of movie stars and music stars and I have hung around the tour bus areas and on the sidewalk of movie festivals hoping to catch a glimpse of stars. But it’s always been from an acceptable distance. I’m the kind of fan who will just stand in a designated area and try to take a picture, but I wouldn’t physically walk towards a celebrity or follow them on foot. I’m a stationary fan. And even when I’ve been inches away from my favorite celebrities, I’m still stationary. I one time reached out my hand for a handshake, but it was in that sort of setting that fans were getting autographs and pictures. I didn’t have anything on me, so I felt like I had to ask for a handshake to not seem weird that I’m right at the front and standing while everyone behind me is screaming for an autograph.
This type of thing shouldn’t be news other than it should be another reminder that it’s this kind of behavior that can lead to what happened to Princess Diana and John Lennon. I read comments how celebrities like Tom Hanks need to deal with this sort of thing and it’s their security personnel who should be at fault.
But really, as humans, we should all understand and respect social tact. Mind the one meter of personal space rule especially if you’re going to follow a celebrity. But also, if the celebrity isn’t stopping to give autographs and they look to be in a hurry, then try again next time. But I understand, there’s professional autograph seekers and media types, this is what they have to do. I’m sure there’s a better way to get the right picture or video, I’m just not certain it’s running up into people’s faces and stepping over each other.
Comments