Last weekend Kevin Smith made history as the first celebrity to live tweet what would become a major story. When Smith – a very frequent Twitter user who keeps in constant touch with his fanbase via his account – was asked to deplane from an aircraft because he was reportedly too large for his seat, he furiously began assailing Southwest Airlines over the situation online. And as the people on the ground responsible for the mistake seemed to dig themselves further and deeper into their mess, Smith angrily awoke a large, immediately accessible audience (over 1 and a half million strong) to rally behind him in support. But something seemed off. CHUD’s Devin Faraci was the first to point out (also via Twitter) that it seemed odd that Smith was suddenly in the midst of controversy just before he had a film opening in theaters.
Curious though it may seem, it is pretty clear that Smith didn’t engineer this as a PR stunt. But it is very possible that he saw a golden opportunity and jumped at it, hoping to get a little positive internet ink that might also kindly mention that his new movie Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan, is in theaters this Friday. And I can’t argue whether or not this was his intention. But, like Devin, I find the timing quite curious. Smith didn’t need to make such a big deal about it, or even rush home to SModcast about it (SModcast being his own, personal, popular podcast). In fact while he was tweeting, Southwest officials were already contacting him trying to calm him down and correct the situation.
But intentional or not, Smith has highlighted the dangerous game of fame of instant, widespread communication without an editorial filter. Many of us bloggers have learned the need for responsibility and self-censorship – whether the hard way or by example – and are constantly amazed (and amused) by journalists making the switch from print to net who so easily fall into the same trap. Whether he intended it or not, he hit upon a taboo touchstone, something *everyone* seems to have an opinion on, but no one had really openly talked about. And now they are. And it is not good.
The blogs are flooded with opinion pieces, ranging from openly bashing and picking on the overweight all the way down to openly bashing the thin for their “health obsession”, stigmatizing of weight and insensitivity. And while most of the blogs seem to find a comfortable place right in the middle, it has not stopped the arguments from getting emotional and extreme on both sides of the fence. Spilling over from the internet, Smith has now become morning show fodder, with radio shows and late night talk shows taking snipes at him. He’s even now asking everyone to let it go. But there are some genies you just can’t put back in the bottle. And this is one of them.
If there was ever an argument against celebrity access to Twitter accounts, this would be it. Twitter isn’t like blogging – you don’t have to go out to someone’s Twitter account to see what they have to say; it comes right to you on your browser or phone the moment someone says it. And once it goes out, it is out there floating around for good. And while this little mess did draw some attention to Smith’s new film, much of it was unwanted ribbing about his weight, temper and actions after he was escorted off the plane.
Sometimes you have to lock a gun cabinet not to keep others out, but to give yourself a few extra seconds to think about what you’re doing. It would be wise for celebrities to take a breath before tweeting and ask themselves “Is this going to be worth the trouble it could cause?” I’m not sure in Smith’s case it was.
