Much Ado about topless photos and royal nudity?

Once upon a time, there lived a duchess, who went out to sunbath during a summer. A royal photographer who knew her itinerary betrayed the royalty by giving Paparazzi some clue as to where they could position themselves to capture the nudity of the duchess during her vacation. The Paparazzi harmed with revealed information concerning the whereabouts of the duchess; embarked upon a mission to chip at her greatness with chisel of mockery!

This Paparazzi traveled long distance, day and night to position himself ahead of the duchess. He purchased expensive flight ticket, an eccentric camera with an ultra-lens. He sneaked around the tickets, hiding in bushes, getting around hedges, bruised by thorns until he finally came close enough to capture the clear view of the duchess.  Alas! The goddess whose beauty has been widely spoken of! He snickered. Calibrated his camera lens. Zoomed in. Aim closer at the upper part of her body. Locked-in the focus on the cleavage area. With the accuracy of photographic lens, he shot the duchess. He hastily reviewed his shot. He saw how all the anatomical features came out clearer in his shots! Then, repeated the process: Click! Click!! Click!!! And the evil genius shot and ran! The image of the duchess has been captured.

The paparazzi made his way to an old frustrated editor; who has been starving and struggling for years. He was almost out of business due to new social media invention! He needed something to keep him from bankruptcy. If he was to stay in the business of journalism, he needs a big break,a major News, a scandal! Anything at all!
Upon sighting the freelance journalist panting as he ran into his office with the duchess' topless photographs; he jumped onto his feet! Flipping through the topless photos; he salivated. Immediately, money changed hands. Pictures changed albums. Intentions changed. Photoshop expert worked on the photos. A lion share was sent to the royal photographer who divulged all the information about the duchess’ itinerary.

Next day, duchess’ nudity photographs was published abroad! Upon publication, there were instant reactions from public. Some had mixed feelings. Some; embarrassed. Some; excited. Some irritated. Some; indifferent. Some; confused! Royalty was offended. Journalist summoned. Placed under arrest for making mockery of the duchess, her husband and the royal family. He was sentenced. His accomplices were hung at stake. Their flesh was served to the coliseum' lions. Families of royal photographer, paparazzi, editor, and journalist claimed innocence. They claimed being oppressed by the royal family. Then, an uproar arose in the state! The union of journalists, the union of photographers embarked on a justice march. The protest lasted for weeks as anarchy became the order of the state.

The irony lie in its anachronistic moral. Not in its familiarity or barbarous plot. Years later, event was re-evaluated for finesse, intricacies and allegories. Questions of concerns arose:

• Was the royal action too cruel in treating royal “betrayers” accordingly? 
• Was it worth it engaging “riffraff” with royal sledgehammer?
•  What should be the ideal royal reaction in a civilized society?
• To what extent should journalism freedom be permitted?   
• Who should be blamed? The one whose breasts was shot? Or the one who shot the royalty's breasts?  Or the one who divulged the royal itinerary, breaking the oath of confidentiality and privacy acts? Or the one who published the royal breasts photos for public consumption?  Or the one who sold the magazine containing the royal topless photo?Or the one who bought the printed nudity of a woman? Or the one who relished in gossip over royal topless photo? Or the pervert who posted the nude pictures all over his room and office walls, fantasizing over royal nudity? Or all of the above? Who must be blamed?

The Sunday following the release of the royal topless photos, a priest preached to his congregation about royal topless photos: “...never dress half naked because the eyes of paparazzi are watching you just like the eyes of God! Ladies must be modestly dressed! For the Lord has spoken that the Sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night! That means no sunbathing! And you men must never climb tall trees to snap a woman’s breasts with a photo camera! Except you want to be like Zacchaeus who climbed the tall tree because he wanted to see Jesus! And don’t practice photography in an ungodly hour and be hell-bound sinners! For why will you graduate from a photographer into paparazzi and lose your own soul? And in the absence of a camera, do not even zoom on lady's breasts from a distance with your eyes, thereby committing adultery by casting a glance at a girl! Verily verily i say unto you that the paparazzi who snapped the duchess holiest of holy has seized unholy moment for an unholy gain. And he shall face judgement of hell if he does not repent! For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?Jesus is coming soon!"

On the Monday, following the release of the publication of royal topless photo, a lawyer was making an argument over a related matter in court. Making a bow before the judge, he motioned to the court. "My Lord! What is so germane in this matter is the cultural permissiveness. Culturally speaking, some excesses are allowed by certain culture than the other. What may be acceptable in some culture may not be allowed in another. My Lord, there are millions of African women with their black breasts captured at closer range with photo-camera. There are countless photographs of half-naked African ladies posted all over the internet in inappropriate manner. The world never bothers about such pictures. We all surf the internet daily and come across those pictures. We wink and move on. We even see photos of breastfeeding mothers and their children. Newborns suck away at their mothers' voluptuous black breasts! Because Mama Africa never mind. She never make a big deal about her breasts being publicized online. We surf away to the next tab or window on the internet from our computers, without giving it a thought. We never ask questions about these websites that posted the nudity of Mama Africa. But the reality only dawn on us when it is a "special" breasts that is in question? My Lord, the African woman whose breasts became a major worldly display on the internet also demands the same measure of respect. She may be living far in the interior jungles of Africa, but she deserves the same level of respect that the lady who lives in the city has. If we should follow the claim that the breasts of Mama Africa should be allowed on the internet, but disprove the  publication of the city dwellers breasts; then we are biased. We are saying all breasts are equal, but some breasts are more important than the other. Why should we file a legal action against someone who  "snapped" a breast without "slapping" the breasts? Is that not an unjustified discrimination my Lord? I rest my case.”

On Tuesday following the release of the royal topless photo, a football coach addressed a soccer team before a major qualifying march: “we're at a critical point in our football career and losing this march will certainly be disastrous. I tell you players that our mockery will surpass the royal gossip over topless photos!”

On Wednesday following the release of royal topless photo, a sycophant spokesperson addressed the media in a press conference: “What is all these about? Is it about some riffraff versus royalty or what? Is it about sneaking up on a "mildly" drunken prince in his hotel, or about trailing the duchess on her vacation? Is it about looking for a hole in the royal armor? Is it for desecrating greatness? Is it for cheap popularity? Is it about desperation for attention? Why are we giving attention to such matter? Why are they constantly attacking the royal family? Can such acts discredit royalty and strip them of their greatness or what?!”

On Thursday following the release of royal topless photo, a father called his children together for a short parental counsel session: “you've all seen it on the news. You saw what happened to the duchess during her vacation? There is no vacation for all of you until further notice because we cannot afford those paparazzi.  The kids nodded. You must all learn from that duchess' story and stay at home during summer breaks! Some day, you will become successful and great. If you are too fond of traveling, going on some vacation and spending expensively, you will be mocked by paparazzi. You must realize some are not happy about your success. The duchess is just learning her lessons! As for you all, I will not wait till then. I will make sure you are constantly learning from now on. So that you are aware of the weight of royalty, successful status and positions of power! Even in death, everything about greatness is constantly subjected to attacks and scrutiny! Wife interrupted: "I just wonder what the world is turning into? Has immorality of our age made it normal to chase other people’s breasts over town with photo camera in the name of journalism?”
 

On the Friday evening following the release of the publication of royal topless photo, some friends sat together to chat over beer after the days work:

Drinker 1: “Hey! what's so special about topless photographs of someone? What warrants all these fuss over lawsuits? Ain't we wasting funds, valuable time, which could have been devoted to building and reforming the society over such unnecessary matter?”

Drinker 2: “No! I disagree! Imagine if the duchess was your wife? How would you feel?"
Drinker 3: "I feel such matter must be handled effectively in order to avoid repetition of the same sordid behavior by the press in the nearest future.”

Drinker  4: “but to what extent can we meddle in other people’s issues? And how much of a freedom can a journalist posses in order to freely practice his career”
ALL: (sighed).

On the Saturday following the release of the publication of royal topless photo, some activists led a protest march. They painted on placards: “What's so special about royal breasts and topless photos when poor are hungry and dying without health care?Com'on occupy everywhere!”

On the same Saturday, following the release of the publication of royal topless photo, the union of photographers met at their headquarters to plan on filing a counter injunction over the matter so that the court may rule in favor of their member journalist. The union legal representative rehearsed his delivery: “...the court’s concerns should not be about what in the world is this journalist thinking, going after another man’s wife’s breasts with his eccentric camera? Rather it should be about professionalism in creative arts. What is photography without intrigue? What is ethics of creative arts without critical thinking that allow expanse of imagination to play its role? To what extent can photography go in terms of artistry and then be curtailed? What defines exemptions and limits of arts and why? What is really acceptable  in arts without infringing on ethics? And who set these rules? How far can we follow ethics, till we lose touch with arts? To what degree can a person be punished for damaging others in practicing his profession? What will be the future of arts and aesthetics beyond 21st century?
 

However, the execution of the paparazzi and his accomplice happened. The families of the killed paparazzi, the menace media agents that supported the royal mockery, gave a speech at their symbolic funeral: “this must be seen for what it is: an oppression of the masses! Now that the royal family has decided to send our sons and brothers to the stakes indeed. Let the society not think that this tyranny will not continue to repeat itself in the future. Our brothers and sons are not perverts going about, salivating, in some journalistic hunt for a peek of nudity of the Duchess. Threatening this dutiful journalists with litigation isn’t a fair deal and sending them to untimely grave is not justice. These journalists were fine men who were busy performing their duties! Although, some delight in chipping away at the enormity of greatness such that they look for every way to make the royal family realize that they are mere mortals like us. Our sons and brothers are not like those people. Let those who live in glass house stop throwing stones!"