Lindsay Lohan and abuse in Kuala Lumpur
The Washington Post has a story about a young Malaysian woman who was arrested on suspicion of drug possession by Kuala Lumpur police and ordered to strip naked and repeatedly squat. Supposedly this happens a lot in Kuala Lumpur. The newsworthy piece is that this particular piece of abuse and humiliation was captured by a policeman on his cellphone and made its way to the Internet, sparking international outrage.
Even though the article has a trend-setting, global headline, "Amateur Videos are Putting Official Abuse in New Light", the writer slants the piece heavily towards the foreign and vaguely unAmerican land of Malaysia, even putting a sidebar on cellphone usage in that country. The spin leaves one with the feeling that this is somehow a local phenomena, useful in the 3rd world.
Well, it might prove pretty damn useful in the 1st and 2nd ones, too. Video is the silent witness to abuse and tragedy everywhere. Remember Rodney King? I can't imagine that too many public events in the future will not be recorded for posterity.
And not just the big things, but also the little picayune peculiar ones. Last week, professional 20-year old exhibitionist Linday Lohan, called her gynecologist's test dummy friend, Paris Hilton a four letter word (hint, it starts with 'C'). She mumbled the word while getting into a car, apparently unaware that the words were snagged.
Video accountability in the real world is the future. That's why Youtube is potentially so important. Well-known people will, as they well know, be under perpetual scrutiny. Abusive situations will be documented. Innocent people will be embarassed and those of us who are still cringing at the Starr report's description of the 1001'st use of a cigar will spend the future mortified, hanging our heads and peeping between our fingers at the next outrageous sight.
Posted on November 15, 2006
