If you have been watching American Idol, (yes I have been watching. Its part of my duty in trying to stay somewhat current with what everyone is watching. And considering they got 32 million text votes this week, I guess I’m not the only one.), you probably know about Antonella Barda.  Another fresh faced pop star wannabe whose shower singing voice probably sounds a whole lot better in her own head. 

Now the rub [ Insert pun here ].  Antonella Barda is all over the celebrity sites already because of “unbecoming” images of the pretty young (20) thing. Candid shots of her sitting on a toilet, getting hammered at Spring Break and yes, the oral test that she obviously passed (if it is indeed her).  Being hard to offend, this doesn’t bother me that much. What bothers me is the stupidity of these young adults. Really, if you let someone take a picture of you giving a hummer, it will end up online. No drunk promise will avoid it from being sent to millions.

That is the world today, kids: If you do anything in the range of a camera (or cellphone), it can end up being seen by millions. The pride of your glorious just-post teen rack, being able to take a shot (of any type), and downing a rod is not what you or your future family is wanting in that Target frame you picked up in the clearance section, but’s it is permanently enshrined as a photographic memento on someone’s hard drive nonetheless.  And you know what?  The moment you gain any degree of fame or notoriety you can bet that still toned ass of yours that it’s going to be public.  Not just snickers in the hallway public, but worldwide.

Don’t get me wrong: Antonella should have at it. Practice and share your skills, I say.  Just don’t do it on camera if you don’t want half of creation being able to judge your technique. Welcome to this, our brave new world of the digital permanent record and the complete abolishment of the line between public and private behavior.  However popular your private acts might make you at the moment, it’s a sure bet they won’t be something that will propel you to the top [ Insert pun here ] of American Idol.  We no longer live in an age where editors and producers understood that our idols were human (and therefore fallible), and they’d squelch the occasional peccadillo or lurid news so that we, the audience, could continue to admire individuals for their accomplishments and ignore their perceived moral failings.  The artifice of wholesomeness demands that you be thrown to the wolves, and that’s on the chance your moment of bad judgment is caught by professionals and not just some guy at the bar who ‘totally understands your shit’.

Of course that isn’t to say that very real danger of your youthful past catching up to you is even acknowledged by those still in its grip.  I mean, don’t get me wrong: I love the pics, but this the mentality that is coming from Barda’s own peer group: 

meh, speaking as a fairly average college girl, i don’t think these pictures are super exciting. most of my friends and i have something similar on our computers.

and things like myspace and facebook just make it easier to share pictures than ever before.

she’s nothing special.

By Anonymous, on 9:17 PM

(from the comments of the I Don’t Like You That Way post about Barda)

Think it might be telling that the comment poster decided on anonymity?

Thinking you can document your sexual or party behavior and trust the owner of the camera is foolish at best. It will not be long before job interviews will have a “as seen on the web” section to make sure your next VP is not recognized from a donkey show.

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