15 Minutes Of Fame For The Wrong Reason
Anjali Ramkissoon. This is a name no one really knew until now. A name we wish we knew in other circumstances rather than for being a fourth-year neurology resident insulting and attacking an Uber driver. Ramkissoon, a young Miami doctor, is perceived as gaining fame in the mainstream media for assaulting someone.
“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes,” predicted artist Andy Warhol. Anjali Ramkissoon surely had her 15 minutes of fame and much more. Her infamous video went viral on YouTube and her story has been covered by almost every TV station in America. As a reward of her sudden “celebrity,” Ramkissoon has been granted a lot of interviews on national TV networks including one in a popular morning show that she quickly added to her Instagram bio as a trophy.
Ramkissoon notably appeared on Good Morning America, basically to explain how sorry she was that her misbehavior was taped and viewed worldwide. She advised GMA viewers and we quote: “Be careful what we do in public because the things that we do can be taped and we can have to suffer severe ramifications for these things.” So the main concern is more about the fact that our actions can be taped and made public and less about the fact they are intrinsically wrong. This is the I’m sorry not because I did wrong but because I got caught mentality.
However, we don’t mean to condemn Ramkissoon. Nobody’s perfect and everyone makes mistakes. She said she was sorry she got caught and we hope she’ll be careful the next time she throws a tantrum after a couple of drinks. She’ll make sure that no one is videotaping. We also wish she didn’t apologize to the Uber driver and to society just because Jackson Hospital has put her on administrative leave.
We won’t blame Ramkissoon for the attention she is getting but we’ll blame the mainstream media for sending the wrong message and for rewarding the wrong person. The message sent here is that you can win big for your wrongdoing. You can gain fame for getting drunk, acting erratically, insulting an Uber driver and vandalizing his car just because your father was admitted to the hospital and your boyfriend broke up with you. Not only will you get away with it, but you may even appear on a primetime TV show.
The mainstream media also rewarded the wrong person. Why has Good Morning America invited the aggressor instead of the victim? The one to applaud here is not Ramkissoon— for supposedly apologizing— but the Uber driver who kept his cool under assault and didn’t even press charges. This guy is a hero. He should be the one to look up to, not Miss Tantrum. Something is wrong and unethical here. Let’s not make the wrong people famous.
