The celeb code of conduct

Hrithik Roshan got on the wrong side of Twitter trolls when he announced on the micro-blogging website how he had a close shave at the Istanbul attacks, because he chose to ‘fly economy’ the previous day, after his original flight got cancelled. Celina Jaitly too made a not so subtle mention about being honoured by an US-based foundation, even as she sent out prayers for the blast victims in the same breath. “I transited through #istanbul airport last month on my way to #Miami to be honoured by @HMilkFoundation SHOCKED to hear about terrorattack” read her tweet. It was followed by a broken-heart emoticon.   Twitterattis lost no time in pulling her down while Celina continued to put up a good fight. One of her later tweets read: It’s saddening to see how all u trolls make #istanbulattack all about ur vicious hatred & abuse. Trolling is no less then virtual terrorism.”

Bollywood isn’t the only industry at the receiving end. Only a few days ago, Arvind Kejriwal’s Goa campaign met with a colourful roadblock when his flowery tiara became the butt of jokes, while his anti-drug campaign became a distant memory. On the other side of the globe, Adele’s onstage burp while taking a selfie with a fan became international news that drowned out her Glastonbury performance, as far as the media was concerned. Examples abound and while some of these may be genuine faux pas, others could be statements spewed out without much thought. Nonetheless, they are never spared.

Kalki Koechlin, who has off-late become a troll favourite, says, “It is true that a lot of the time what you say gets taken out of context and turned into a headline but I also think that the social media is a great tool for celebrities to express themselves without there being the interference of a middleman. There is a pressure to be perfect in the time of Photoshop. Nobody really looks like what they do on magazine covers. But then, if you look at all the great inspirations internationally, like Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin or Meryl Streep — they’re not perfect. It is their personalities rather than how they look, that has made them who they are. I think it is important to let a person’s work speak for them. You have to live with the idea of trolls. We also get praise and thanks on the social media, so dealing with the negative is part of living in a free society.” The actress adds, “When I’m trolled nowadays, I simply switch off from the social media for a while. However, I think that it is important not to isolate the incident but to look at the person as a whole.”

At a conclave earlier this year, Kalki performed a spoken-word poem where she said, “I wanna scratch my head, dig my nose, lick my fingers, stretch my legs and spread my toes. I wanna smile with my gums showing.” The unfortunate reality is that these are distant dreams in a celeb’s life, at times even the wrong shade of lip colour can get you trending on the wrong side of social media for weeks. So then are the rules different for celebrities? Image consultant Sheena Agarwal says, “You and I could be saying the same thing but Hrithik being Hrithik, or celebrities being who they are, trolls thrive on the smallest mistakes they make.”  

“The Internet has countless sites which thrive on this kind of news, so there’s hardly anything you can ultimately do about it,” she adds. Given how websites such as bollywoodwardrobemalfunction.in, bollywoodfashionpolice.com thrive on underlining dress repeats and peek-a-boo moments on the red carpet, Sheena’s point is only driven home further.  

Etiquette expert Chhaya Momaya says, “You have decided to be a public figure, so if you’ve done something publicly, I don’t think you should deny the fact. If you have chosen to be a celebrity, you must deal with everything that comes with the territory. No matter what, celebs need to be warm towards the public, unless of course someone is deliberately creating nuisance. And if, someone has been trolled about their dress or their appearance, I think they should pick themselves up and work on it.” Speaking of Hrithik’s tweet, she adds, “I thought it was quite a good thing to say. After all, if a celebrity says he travels economy, maybe others will too. I don’t think it was self-centred. It’s all about what you take away from the tweet.”

Chhaya also agrees that the best way to react to trolls is to simply ignore them. “As a celebrity, you just have to go with it. You pride yourself in being a part of a democracy, so you have to deal with all that comes with it.”