Ei nimi miestä pahenna, ellei mies nimeä.

It is not a crime, unless the victim is famous.

My informant first heard this saying when he was eight years old when a farmer nearby was apparently murdered.  The thing that was most memorable about this event to my informant was that no one ever heard about it, and much investigation did not going into finding the true cause or murderer in this case.  His older cousins then states the phrase “Ei nimini miesta pahenna ellei mies nimea” which basically reinstates the fact that people only care about the lives of famous people.

This issue about media coverage is apparent in nearly every country.  Everyday someone is murdered in the middle East, gangsters are being shot, people are dying in Darfur, yet this past month we have been seeing footage of Anna Nicole Smith, and every single detail possible about her death.  Although all life is equal, it is preposterous that someone as unaccomplished as Anna Nicole Smith received about 95% of media coverage during the week of her death, and soldiers receive about 30 seconds.

This can also play a literal translation such as in the case of OJ Simpson, it seems the only reason that there was a lot of media was because of his fame.  We often see that this is the case, that when a famous person is involved, they get much more attention from law enforcements because of pressure from the society.  As unfair as it may seem, our society does place a lot of importance on famous people, diminishing the importance of everyday individuals.