With cell phones catching everyone doing everything and YouTube sharing the video within minutes, anonymity has become a thing of the past.
So I have to wonder why Fox’s 25-season-old series Cops is still forced by law to blur out everything from faces to licence plates to a chihuahua’s head.
Yes, a chihuahua. According to the master of pixelation in the show’s post-production crew, the dog caught amid one arrest was an “actor” with an agent who did not sign a release for his celluloid image.
Thus, they had to blur its incessantly barking head along with the guy in his undies who was handcuffed face-down on the floor.
From the looks of things, the dog wasn’t exactly raking it in. But I guess cohabitating with a felon might damage its career.
After all, many of those commercial contracts do have a morality clause. And we don’t want our Taco Bell pooch to be anything less than a stand-up guy.
But as for the rest of these characters on the show? Why hide their identity? Those who know these folks probably recognize their voices, cars or homes. Those who don’t, probably don’t care.
Of course, there is the whole “innocent until proven guilty” issue. On Cops, they’re being charged and arrested, not convicted. And considering how many are drunk, belligerent and rather incapable of coherent speech, they can hardly be expected to aid in their own defense.
So yes, the program is rather one-sided, showing people in the worst light at the worst moment. And who wants their boss and co-workers to see that before they get back to the office on Monday morning?
Producers also obscure any identifying information such business names and addresses. Apparently, the viewing public is dying to locate these people so we can bask in their delightful company.
Of course, not everything requiring careful blurring and disguising occurs from the neck up.
Forget those embarrassing visible panty lines, the post-production crew spend a lot of time covering up butt cracks and genitalia. Apparently, criminals spend a lot of time naked.
Perhaps if we got them some clothes, they wouldn’t feel the need to break the law.
But since partial nudity is de rigueur with these folks, again I can see why viewers would be clamouring to drop in on them in their natural habitat. Hence, again, the thoughtful blurring of their addresses.
All this disguising and pixelation of the images seems like a make-work project that protects no one. It’s the law. I get that.
But the law was made before people started selling their dignity for 15 minutes of fame.
Besides, I wonder if anyone has taken the time to match up the episodes of Cops with the millions of cell phone videos of “drunks/co-eds/morons behaving badly” on YouTube.
You know they didn’t pixelate anyone’s face or butt crack. And nobody cares.
Except for the chihuahua. And its agent.
