"Why should Dominique Strauss-Kahn be made to do the perp walk?'
"Because he's a perp."
That must be humiliating, to be called a perp. And by New York reporters, whose disrespectful terms are so quickly picked up. The French minister of culture called it "disgusting."
Can't you hear their response? "So, drop dead minister of culture."
Does a high French official ever have a chance of avoiding disrespect in New York? What can he do?
Well this one could have kept his hands off our hotel maids. Let him try some other crime. Maybe he can work his way up to perpetrator.
There's such a big difference in the flavor of those two words. And I don't think it all works in favor of the New York press. "Perp walk" is not just disrespectful of the French official; it's disrespectful of the NYPD for the show it puts on for the press's benefit. "Perpetrator display," though as inaccurate as "perp walk" (he's not a perpetrator yet), might fit an attempt to shame, and deter, and reform, but "perp walk" won't let you get away with that. It fits a cheap show, attempting to cheapen a man.
Which suggests that the culture minister has a point. The NYPD is catering to a public that wants it all hung out, both public and private, with less and less respect for the private. That may not be disgusting, but it's certainly disturbing.
