Paparazzi Hit All Time Low Trying to Extort Money from John Travolta for Jett Travolta Photos

It's tragic enough that John Travolta and Kelly Preston have to deal with the death of their son, but I recently was browsing Digg.com when I came across this article by the dailymail.co.uk as "John Travolta 'threatened by extortion plotters' over a photo of dying son Jett".

What Price Does John Travolta Have to Pay For Privacy?

What is the price of privacy? I can't believe the paparazzi can sink to new lows. These low life photographers tried to extort money out of John Travolta by saying that if he was willing to pay a million dollars to keep photos of a dying Jett Travolta out of the spotlight that they would sell them elsewhere. So far the paparazzi are saying even they have ethics and so far the investigation is pointing towards possibly somebody connected with the ambulance service.

Are We All Ambulance Chasers?

That's pretty sad if now celebrities wary of the paparazzi also have to worry about every service person around them including when hospital and medical personnel are just a cell phone photo away from taking a quick photo. The sad thing is, if the pictures do get released, would there be a buyer? Would a media outlet buy these photos. Because if the photos got released, would we want to see the pictures? Do we all have a bit of morbid curiosity?

When Are Pictures of a Dead Body Appropriate?

Strangely enough, this story got me thinking about another time when I thought it was kind of odd to take pictures of a dead body. At my grandmother's funeral, before she was cremated, we all had to stand behind her casket and get our picture taken. Her only brother, my Uncle from Japan was snapping pictures. Being of Japanese descent, even I thought this was taking the Japanese obsession of taking pictures of everything a little too far.

A Right Time and A Wrong Time

But when I asked my Mom about it, she said that it's an old tradition. My Uncle was taking pictures of my Grandmother for one last time so he could take pictures back home to show our relatives and his friends in Japan. It was a kind of visual proof that my Grandmother had really passed away. At the same time, it was a way of memorializing all the people who loved her tremendously. I learned there is an appropriate time to take pictures of a dead body and in the case of Jett Travolta, it was not.

Sources:

"John Travolta 'threatened by extortion plotters' over a photo of dying son Jett", Paul Thompson, 1/22/09, dailymail.co.uk