VIDEO: “We Just Wanted To F**k Around With You, Harrass You”: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Records His Encounter With The Paps

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s YouTube clip “Pictures Of Assholes” was uploaded online a few years ago, but it has somehow found popularity over the past few days on social media websites, picking up half a million hits.

Gordon-Levitt recorded himself confronting paparazzi as they insisted on taking photos. He asks their names and complains about being harassed, the camera is turned on them for a change.

Let’s just say we don’t think Joseph expected this kind of reaction…

He posted this description with the YouTube video:

It doesn't normally happen that paparazzi photographers pay me any attention when I'm not working. In fact, it only ever happened once (thank god) that I can think of.

Luckily I had my video camera on me when it did. A friend and I were just walking down the street in Manhattan when we passed these two photographers who were sitting outside the entrance of some hotel, presumably waiting to photograph somebody who was staying there. I didn't think much of them until, a block or so later, they came running up and started to take my picture. I tried to be nice and politely ask them not to.

They were neither nice nor polite. And that's when I remembered I had my camera in my bag. So that's where the movie starts.

The only other thing I'll say is (and I had trouble deciding whether or not to be so blunt with my opinion, but here goes) I do believe that the myth of "Celebrity" is not just innocently shallow entertainment, but a powerful and fundamental part of a larger movement revolving around greed, apathy and hierarchy that is currently dragging us down, down, down, lower and scarier, and perhaps weaker than we've ever, ever been. Smile!

The video now has nearly 800,000 hits.