When you think of celebrities, what’s the first thing you think of? Most think of them as glamorous, stand-up citizens with money. We fall victim to stereotyping famous people as good. However, that is not always the case with all celebrities. We want to think that they won’t do anything wrong. However, they do wrong more than any of us realize. They are seen doing drugs, disobeying traffic laws, and even the unthinkable – murder.
Early August, Thai actor Thanapat Chanakulpisan who starred in “Why R U?”, was arrested for homicide. He was apprehended for stabbing his girlfriend a minimum of twenty times. At first, he said that they were drinking that night, and they started arguing. He then stated that she stabbed herself to try to threaten or prevent him from leaving the house. It might sound absolutely insane, but it’s not far-fetched. However, later he finally confessed to stabbing her during the argument in a blind rage.
Normally, people wouldn’t blow up a case like this, but because he is a famous actor, everyone knows about it. I understand why everyone can’t believe that this happened. Personally, I have seen the popular show that he was in. At first, I was confused on who he was until I went back and watched a clip from the show. Never in a million years would I guess he could kill someone. Although, he did kill someone— quite violently to be exact. Some would even say that he overkilled her. Not just a simple blind-rage-crime-of-passion-type case. He continually stabbed her, and while he might have been mad, there must be more. With this level of force, I would assume he was more than angry. This level of anger may lead people to believe that he had underlying mental health issues.
Reports say that before the event, his girlfriend was on social media saying she was abused by loved ones in the past and present. While no reports mention him having mental health issues, the severity of the case should raise some questions. Over 20 stabs?
There are dangers to idolizing celebrities just because they seem glamorous. They are not the characters they play, or the dream date in romances. A surprising amount of famous people participate in illegal activities, as well as violent crimes— even though some aren’t always found guilty. A notorious example of this is O.J. Simpson, who was charged for murder by stabbing his ex-wife and her friend. However, after the trial he was found not guilty. Another example would be Claudine Longet, a French singer and actress. She was charged with shooting her boyfriend. She also got charged, but similar to Simpson, she got off somewhat because of inadmissible evidence. She only had to pay a small fine and spend a month in jail.
It is important to remember that celebrities are humans too. They can break the law and do wrong. As a society, we should be cautious when it comes to idolizing people that we do not really know— even those who seem like they could never do something as terrible as committing a murder.