Matthew Brown wrote:
On 5/23/07, Ron Ritzman ritzman@gmail.com wrote:
On 5/23/07, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
The point is that isn't particularly fame. The incident is famous, the person's pretty much only famous in association with the incident.
Could some argue that based on this [[Monica Lewinsky]] should be deleted?
Monica Lewinsky embraced her notoriety to the point of writing an autobiography, as I recall. That does make a difference.
That would certainly reinforce the point in the specific case of Lewinsky. Writing an autobiograohy would clearly enhance a person's notability. Ultimately it's about individuals and individual circumstances. The decision needs to be made on a one-by-one basis.
This does not solve the problem for the general class of people that Lewinsky symbolizes. But for one act she might have remained as faceless as any other Washington intern. The act that brought her fame does not appear to be illegal, though it may be in other jurisdictions. Far from seeing it as a black mark on her biography, it is also imaginable that some would look upon her in awe, wishing that they had had a similar opportunity to project themselves into history.
In one community a person who is convicted of drunk driving baely rates one column inch in the local newspaper. In a similaly sized neighboring community a driver in similar circumtances becomes a 'cause célèbre'. Because of this single incident town B develops a national reputation for being unsafe. It all comes down to a good judgement, and no rules are efective in bringing that about.
Ec