June 3, 2015

"When John Oliver planted a giant bag of marijuana in my hand Sunday night and broadcast it to millions of HBO viewers, I immediately thought of Chekhov."

"In one of the Russian master’s shortest short stories, a lowly civil servant is so ecstatic to find an article about himself in the newspaper that he cannot stop bragging to family and friends — even though the story relays how he was run over by a horse while crossing the street in a drunken stupor. This is really all you need to know about fame and media in 2015. It’s also precisely how I felt when several eagle-eyed friends messaged me on Facebook that my 1992 Stuyvesant High School prom picture had somehow ended up in an Oliver segment about — what else? — lethal injections in Nebraska.... There I was, a dorky, baby-faced 17-year-old kid with braces and an ill-fitting, ill-chosen white dinner jacket, with one arm draped awkwardly around my beautiful date and the other, thanks to HBO and the magic of Photoshop, toting a whole lot of weed. It was embarrassing. Horrifying. And hilarious. So naturally I shared it with everyone I know. But there was one thing that didn’t make sense. My date, Toby Bochan, who remains one of my closest friends, put it simply on Facebook: 'How did they get this photo. How?'..."

From Jeremy Olshan's "How my 1992 prom picture ended up on HBO’s John Oliver show."

Although I haven't quite hit the big time, I do know what it's like to become a stock photo.

8 comments:

MayBee said...

I would say that guy grew up and found a very good look for himself.

tim in vermont said...

That is a fetching stock photo. Just saying.

Jim in St Louis said...

'Joy' by Anton Chekhof is NOT about some schlep who is proud to be famous for an embarrassing act. It is about shame felt by the schlep's parents who have now also been dragged into the incident.

Bozo boy still thinks its all about him.- clueless dimwit.

Bob Ellison said...

'How did they get this photo. How?'..."

Now I can't get "Tevye's Dream" out of my head.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Show me a man who's not reminded of a Chekhov short story by something that happens to him in real life, and I'll show you a man who's not trying hard enough.

madAsHell said...

Till now only you knew that there was a registration clerk called Caitlyn Jenner, and now all Russia knows it! Mamma! Oh, Lord!”

Thorley Winston said...

If the author was only seventeen (which is below the age that someone can enter into a contract for non-essential services in New York) and his parent or guardian didn’t co-sign it, it could still be voidable at his discretion. There may be a question as to whether too much time has passed for him to void it after he turned eighteen but he could make a plausible argument that he only recently discovered the photo was being altered and distributed.

Etienne said...

Looking at the "now" photo, all I can say is the braces didn't seem to work.

He alludes to signing the release later. A photographer can wait years before asking for a release.