Jack Nicholson Knows How to Chill
Or, how to remain unfazed as paparazzi try to cop your swagger.
In what might just be a sympathy bid to distract the dirty public from how superior their lives are, celebrities have taken to complaining about paparazzi. The stars of today call the ever-more present press intrusive, relentless and unethical. Alec Baldwin has called a paparazzo a mean name. Shia LaBeouf poured hot coffee on another. Björk ripped the shirt off of a photographer’s back in New Zealand, and then fashioned the garment into a bizarre tunic and wore it to the Grammys. (Probably.)
While aggressive snappers are surely obnoxious, especially when they go after children, maybe celebrities should approach the situation like Jack Nicholson. His method? In a word, “Whatever.” This 1980 photograph is pretty clearly paparazzi-taken: It’s shot through the window of what looks to be a Mercedes-Benz 600 limousine, and catches Nicholson looking unmoved as he lounges with a tartan throw. All that wattage doesn’t phase him: Jack’s got his signature shades, his signature smirk and the knowledge that at the end of the day, whatever indignities he might suffer, he’s still Jack Nicholson. The fellow is headed home to a Beverly Hills mansion, where a single malt may sooth his soul. The photographer? He’ll be up all night in the developing room.
