Apparently, the fans of Paris Hilton have banded together for a petition to Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California, to pardon her for her 45-day jail sentence for violation of probation and DUI. As of today, the petition has more than 900 signatures. NINE HUNDRED. 900+ people in this country think Paris Hilton is an honorable upstanding citizen who has made great contributions to this country and world, and she deserved to be pardoned. Hmmm. This is just part of what their petition says:
To:
The Honorable Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American celebrity and socialite. She is an heiress to a share of the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as to the real estate fortune of her father Richard Hilton. She provides hope for young people all over the U.S. and the world. She provides beauty and excitement to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives.
Hilton is notable for her leading roles on the FOX reality series The Simple Life and in the remake of the Vincent Price horror classic "House of Wax". In addition to her work as an actress, she has achieved some recognition as a model, celebrity spokesperson, singer, and writer.
(To read the rest, go here: http://news.aol.com/entertainment/articles/_a/paris-wants-appeal-schwarzenegger-pardon/20070508065409990001 )
I'm still sitting here thinking, "Hmmm." and sarcastically, "Wow.". You know the 'wow' I'm talking about. The wow that asks why we as a society don't put the energy used in making freeparis.org (another petition site) to better use. This is not just a critique of others, but of myself as well, so do not think I am being snobbish or hypocritical. What is going on when the fate of a celebrity, who has more money than most of us will ever have and can con her way out of jail time (not that I would condone it), than the fate of a young child with HIV/AIDS or cancer? Why do we care more about Paris going to jail than the man who served in Vietnam and is now homeless on the streets and starving 5 out of the 7 nights in a week? How are we ordering our priorities?
I don't know if Paris got the right sentence or not-I'm not too keen on the specificity of American laws (hmm, maybe I should be). But I DO believe that celebrities should be equal before the law. They should not get lesser sentences because they are celebrities, but they ALSO should not get more severe sentences just because they are celebrities. Both situations show bias.
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It is pathetic, really it is, but it just goes to show what an influence little money and fame can have on society. If anything 45 days is too short. Maybe if it was 45 years, then there would be justice.
I see the petition fails to mention that she'd already been pulled over twice in the previous 4 months and had already had her license suspended.
Absolutely ridiculous. But yeah, they seriously need to redirect their energy. She broke the law. She knew she did it. She needs to face the consequences. If that's jail... she should have thought of that first.
Celebrity shouldn't equal free pass.
"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." -Huxley
"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err." -Gandhi