The History and Controversy Over How Paparazzi Got Its Name and Paparazzi Laws in Europe

Strange how Italian words become so entwined into American culture that we just accept them as something that's always been there for decades. It's only been about 48 years since the word paparazzi managed to skip across the pond from Europe and into the American lexicon. And if the paparazzi in Hollywood knew what their name meant as an obscure casual word in Italy, they'd probably want to go back to what they were known as before the early 1960's. Before paparazzi became what we know them as, we just shockingly acknowledged these people as real press photographers.

Anybody who's studied foreign film would know exactly where the term paparazzi (or actually paparazzo) came from. Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" in 1960 had a pivotal character in the story who happened to be a press photographer by the name of Paparazzo. This character accompanies the Marcello character in the film (played by Marcello Mastroianni) and has long been rumored to be based on an odd Italian word called "papataceo" that's a description for an annoying buzzing sound coming from a mosquito.

That right, it's quite clear that Fellini understood the annoyance of press photographers quite early and perhaps unknowingly applied a whole new term to them via the name of a character. Rome in those days was already considered a city that was celebrity-obsessed with full intention of Fellini to reflect that universe in "La Dolce Vita." It was also known as one of the worst places on Earth for celebrity photographers who would almost go to as many lengths as Hollywood paparazzi today to get a photograph of an Italian movie star.

The only difference is that 1960 Rome was fortunate to not have been obsessed with driving SUV's that could potentially run a celebrity off an embankment somewhere during a chase. Somehow I have the feeling that Italy still get perplexed when seeing the type of vehicles we've used here in recent years. They always did and always will be the types who have paparazzi riding around in small, compact cars that are almost the equivalent of a little buzzing mosquito that can squeeze into tighter places to get photographs easier.

But is it possible instead that an Italian family name can take credit for the term paparazzi? A mystery still exists over whether paparazzi are really named after the sound of a buzzing mosquito or whether Fellini took the name from a random book. It wouldn't have been the first time a name used in a film or TV show was taken from a phone book or other place listing names.

Is the Paparazzo family the heir to the paparazzi term?

According to the screenwriter of "La Dolce Vita", it's been said that Fellini took the name Paparazzo randomly from a travel book written during the turn of the 20^th century that listed the owner of a hotel by that name. This follows the same track as other famous character names taken from a book a producer opened up at random and used the first name they saw. Apparently Gilligan from "Gilligan's Island" was a last name taken from a phone book--or at least according to that show's producer, Sherwood Schwartz. Not that we should compare "Gilligan's Island" to anything directed by Fellini, even though the surrealism might intersect at times.

That random name Fellini reportedly took was the classy name of Signor Paparazzo (or just Mr. Paparazzo in Italian), which almost belongs on the marquee of a swanky Italian hotel. If it's true that the paparazzi are named from this man, are the heirs to Signor Paparazzo still alive who can claim the credit? They probably don't want to when the designation still gets as much derision in Europe as it does in America. It would still be interesting to track down heirs to get their opinion, even if they yell in Italian to get those damn cameras out of their faces.

No matter where the term of paparazzi comes from, the impressions of them are pretty much the same around the world now. With all the recent furor again in Hollywood of trying to enact laws to control the paparazzi (something I wrote about recently while examining the psychology behind the scenario), the paparazzi in Europe still don't have an entire free reign like they do in Tinseltown. It's something to consider if a celebrity wants to get out of the rat race of Los Angeles and go buy a home in Europe...

Paparazzi restrictions in Germany and France...

It might look eerie to see that France's paparazzi needs permission from the people they're photographing, especially after Princess Diana died in Paris as the result of paparazzi chasing her. It's nevertheless true that Germany and France both have more restrictions against the paparazzi than people think. The process of model release is to assure celebrities there that a paparazzi photographer working in those countries won't be legally able to sell a picture without getting the celebrity to sign a waiver. And how many celebrities would do that?

Consider that some celebrities want paparazzi around them for certain events over in Europe. In that scenario, a symbiosis can happen between paparazzi and celebrity that's sorely missing in Hollywood. It's something I tackled in a recent article in how there should be a cooperation between the two through scheduled appointments. Other countries in Europe set up specific events so paparazzi can get their picture quota without instigating a chase through the narrow streets of a European city.
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Whatever is in a name for the paparazzi, it's doubtful many of them in Hollywood know they're the possible Italian equivalent of an annoying mosquito. That's the beauty of the Italian language that even makes dung sound classy. What would be the ultimate irony is an offspring of the above-mentioned Paparazzo family living in L.A. and becoming a celebrity there where the tabloids would give their right arm to get a photograph of him or her doing anything.

"Paparazzo chased by paparazzi" would send some kind of surreal message that only the late Fellini could have dreamed up as a joint American-Italian movie venture...