The Bling Ring: Social Media Spawns Criminal Enterprise
Last week I was subjected to the nearly two and a half hour torture that was the movie Spring Breakers. But even though the movie was an excruciating ordeal, I did love seeing the previews. One of the previews that caught my eye was for a movie coming out this year called The Bling Ring, from director Sofia Coppola. One of the only reasons it drew my attention is because it stars Emma Watson, who is adorable and impossible not to love.
However, I couldn’t really tell what the movie was about from the previews so I did a little digging when I got home. It turns out that the movie is based on true events about a group of teens who used Google Earth, Facebook, and Twitter to find celebrities’ houses, track their whereabouts, and rob them when their houses were empty. For those of you who haven’t seen the trailer yet…
The basics of the true story behind The Bling Ring is that a group of teens led by ringleader Rachel Lee used Google Earth to spy on celebrity homes and used Facebook and Twitter to determine when they would be out and about. They would then break into the targeted celebrity’s house and “go shopping”. Paris Hilton’s house was robbed by the Glitter Gang a 5 times in all, totaling about $2 million in losses. Other stars whose houses were hit include Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bilson, and Lindsay Lohan. But what interests me isn’t the thievery. What intrigues me is the motivation behind theses crimes.
Yes, while Lee and the other kids in the “Ring” did use online resources to track their targets, what first motivated them to steal celebrities’ jewelry and clothes and other luxury items can be traced back to the pervasive nature of social media. Teens and young adults, such as myself are bombarded by celebrity images not just in magazines anymore or in movies. We get a daily dose of glam when we follow celebrities on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. For some of us, it’s simply a glimpse into the lives of our favorite celebs. But for others, seeing our favorite celebs and the fabulous lifestyles they lead can be psychologically damaging. In fact, a few of my classmates are examining this phenomenon right now by surveying college students about whether or not celebrity Instagram accounts influence their self body image. The gang who robbed these celebrities admitted that they wanted to dress like they were rich and feel like they were famous and glamorous. People aren’t born feeling this way; they are conditioned by their environment to develop the desire to be rich and famous, to dress up in glitzy gowns and jewelry. And what perpetuates this desire are photo-sharing sites like Instagram where we see celebrities living the lives we wish we could have.
Hopefully none of us reach the extremes the Bling Ring did to feel glamorous but I think we all of those yearnings, however infrequent, to experience the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
April 1st, 2013 at 4:45 am
Great post Mia. I totally agree about how social media outlets like Instgram can lead the average person to believe they are entitled to a life of luxury. I love Emma Watson and can’t wait to check out this movie. I did know it was based on true events, but didn’t know that they used Google Earth etc. to track the celebrity homes. Scary!!!
April 1st, 2013 at 6:32 pm
Thank you! I know, this makes me never want to share my location on anything. Ever.
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