National Lampoon, Leaked Photos, and Voyeur Culture

In 1985, Clark Griswold and his family traveled to Europe. While in London, Clark mischievously recorded his wife getting out of the shower. Ellen then did a seductive dance for her husband and the two commenced in intimate moments while the camera recorded. A few days later, while the family was in Paris, their camera was stolen.



Several days after the theft, Ellen saw a picture of herself during the recorded moments in an advertisement on the side of a bus. The advertisement was for an adult movie. As to be expected, she was embarrassed and angry at her husband for not erasing the material.

In the wake of the latest theft of celebrity intimate photos, is the above scenario still funny?

Also, who do you think is to blame - if anyone - in the above scenario?

• Ellen Griswold


• Clark Griswold


• The Paris thief


• The distributor


• The bus company for promoting


• The market for such a video

Personally, I hate "blame". People get too busy blaming and pointing fingers, and not fixing problems. What's done is done. After the incident occurs, the next step is to make sure it doesn't happen again. In the Griswold case, that might mean Clark is never able to operate the camera again. Or they don't make intimate videos again. Or they never hand their camera to strangers again. Or they ensure the thief is prosecuted to the utmost extent of the law, intimidating potential thieves. Or they could start a campaign trying to change the voyeur culture. Either way, effective countermeasures may be taken.

Or not.