AirLockAlpha.com

There has been some chatter over the last week about a cease and desist order "Battlestar Galactica" star Mary McDonnell received against a woman she claimed was stalking her and her children. The reaction was a bit interesting, but not surprising considering how some people take celebrity news.

"I feel horrible for Mary McDonnell," is an example of one type of reaction. "Why is she overreacting so much? If she didn't want to be stalked, then she shouldn't be famous," is another. And then, of course, there is a third one: "Why are you covering this? Isn't this invading Mary McDonnell's privacy?"

Well, let's address the third reaction first ... the invasion of privacy. Airlock Alpha was among at least two dozen other media outlets that covered this story within 24 hours after it was first reported by the New York Post, so obviously there is some interest in celebrity stalking.

And there always will be. Let's take a look at some of the more famous ones.

There are many examples that can be pointed out. Victims have included Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Andy Warhol, Selena, John Lennon. Many of them ended up with no serious physical harm, others ... not so lucky. But no one can seriously talk about stalking unless you bring up the name of John Hinckley Jr.

Hinckley watched a movie in 1976 called "Taxi Driver" that starred a very young actress playing a child prostitute named Jodi Foster. Hinckley became obsessed with Foster, even moving closer to where she was going to college in the early 1980s to slip notes under her door and to try and get her attention.

But every attempt at gaining her good graces were unsuccessful, and he started to think of bigger and bolder things to achieve his goal. They included thoughts of hijacking an airplane or even killing himself right in front of her. Eventually, however, his thoughts went toward something more horrific. He was going to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.

On March 30, 1981, while Reagan was leaving a hotel in Washington, D.C., Hinckley pulled out a Rohm RG-14 and fired six shots at Reagan. None of the bullets hit Reagan directly, but one did richochet off the bullet-proof glass on his limo and hit him in the chest. Three other people were injured (including the man who would later be the namesake of the Brady Bill).

While most of the incidents we hear about stalking involve famous people, you don't have to be famous at all to become a victim. I have been stalked twice in my lifetime already, once as a cyberstalking case, the second what can be described as a "resentful stalker" involving work that I was doing at a newspaper 10 years ago.

At the time, I was covering what was known in Florida as the "Water Wars," and I had taken a more specialized and localized look, focusing on what was a natural spring lake that used to be a public swimming hole, but closed down because it became the primary water source for a bottling company owned by Nestle.

I'm as big as a tree hugger as they come, and want the environment to be protected. At the same time, I'm also a journalist and believe in fairness and balance. While other papers in the area were covering it from an extreme environmentalist bent, my stories were getting both sides of the issue, and giving everyone a fair shake. To the point that I became the first journalist allowed to visit the pumping site after it was constructed by the owner of the property.

Well, there were some activists who found out about that and were not happy at all. Many of them tried to get me fired, while a certain one thought they would simply harass me and my family with threats and phone calls. It went on for weeks and weeks, to the point that I was worried that they may go to greater extremes. Someone would sit out in front of my house, and would sit there. When I would call the police, they would take off.

When people say that Mary McDonnell overreacted without knowing all the facts, they obviously are someone who never experienced being stalked. I mean, I don't know if McDonnell was overreacting or not. I haven't seen the police report or the court filing. But since we don't hear about McDonnell filing these on a regular basis, I guess we should give her the benefit of the doubt, don't you think?

Being stalked is no joke, and it should never be treated that way. Just like one would give a rape victim the benefit of the doubt, the same practice should be applied to stalking victims. Not that they are one in the same, but even if property isn't destroyed or someone isn't hurt, there are still consequences to that type of illegal behavior.

According to experts, here are some of the things victims of stalking can suffer from: Denial, frustration, low self-esteem, paranoia, blaming themselves, insecurities, depression, isolation, anger, panic attacks. That's just to name the few.

It's been 10 years since I had a physical stalker. But I can tell you that there are times I catch myself being hypervigilant. If I am driving home at night, I tend to take different routes, especially one involving a lot of turns. If someone behind me seems to turn the same turns as me, I will keep driving past my house until they either turn away, or I can get into a very public area. I still sometimes jump up to small noises outside that others normally wouldn't even care about, and I'm comfortable with the more locks the better.

I think it's important to talk about stalking, even if the person allegedly stalking McDonnell never meant her any harm. The thing is ... you can never take the chance. If you don't believe me, then ask John Lennon. Or Selena. Oh wait, that's right. You can't.

SyBits

Let's see what's in the old mailbag (and I bet it's about our Mary McDonnell story!) ...

What the heck? A news-free story about someone stalking Mary McDonnell on your site? And you give the criminal publicity?

Good grief. You need to develop a little common sense. Very, very poor judgment, Airlock Alpha.

-- Sharon Tremble

See? I told you so. It's almost like I screened the mailbag ahead of time, eh?

Well, first of all, the person accused of stalking Mary McDonnell has not been convicted (nor has she been accused) of a criminal offense. So, technically, she isn't a criminal.

Secondly, there are a lot of things we cover that some people think is newsworthy and others don't. All I can say is read the stories that interest you, and skip the ones that don't. I mean, you don't read every single story in a newspaper, do you?

I am new to posting to your Web site and I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you what a great site you have. While I was deployed in Iraq and during my recovery at Walter Reed, my friends and I would visit Airlock Alpha when we got a chance. Most are big Stargate fans, but I enjoyed your "Battlestar Galactica" stuff.

Thank you! And by the way, I think you are right about reporting the Mary McDonnell story.

-- Mary

Mary, I think you're a little confused here because you should not be thanking me ... it should be me thanking you.

It doesn't matter if we're for the war or against the war, for President Bush or against President Bush. One thing we should all have in common is the respect and support for our troops whether they are serving overseas or not. I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the war in Iraq, but the soldiers who are there are risking their lives, and they are the men and women who make this country great.

One of my older brothers, Rich, retired from the U.S. Marine Corps (if there is such a thing as retiring from the Marines) and he served in the Persian Gulf during the 1991 Gulf War. This all happened while I was still in high school, and I used to wake up every morning all worried that something happened to my brother. But I was lucky that he came home OK (although his ship had been targeted by a SCUD, but was saved thanks to a Patriot missile).

I know the site reaches people in many places, but nothing touches me more than knowing that we can be a source of entertainment and support for our troops, both on the field, and recovering. So Mary, please don't thank me. Thank you.

Send me a letter, and if you're lucky (or you suck up enough), it could appear right here! Just e-mail me at mhinman@airlockalpha.com.

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Have a great week, and don't be a stranger!

Michael Hinman, a 22-time winner of the British lottery and heir to three Nigerian fortunes, is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com