The Mug Shot Sensations And Social Media

Looks Can Be Deceiving 

You might remember earlier this year in the summer when a certain heartthrob, with a tattooed tear, popped up on social media. People were in awe over this handsome man and were desperate trying to deduce where he had come from and how he had slipped under the radar for so long. You’ll probably also remember that the picture of our stunner was actually his mug shot. Awkward. 

Not that that deterred anyone, and if anything it spurred people on more with all comers wanting a slice of the naughty man. Jeremy Meeks, 30 was arrested in California for numerous charges: grand theft, possession of a firearm as well as street terrorism. He has since been offered a $30,000 modelling contract with Blaze Models in L.A. So crime does pay, just as long as you’re good looking.

He was more recently dethroned as the sexiest criminal in September this year when pictures of Stephanie Boudoin took social media by storm. Boudoin, a nursing student, had a total of 114 different charges filed against her, including: breaking and entering, receiving stolen property and illegally owning and storing firearms. She’s only broken into about 40 homes though, but I suppose we should just ignore that and get more likes and retweets on that picture of her in a bikini.

History seems to want to repeat itself as he edge closer to the end of another year.

This time, a picture of a woman began circulating across social media towards the end of last week. Her picture has received even more attention than the last heartthrob mug shot. I’m not sure how anyone can have time to retouch their makeup after being arrested though. Alysa Suguro Bathrick or ‘Cute Mug Shot Girl’ is 18 years old and was arrested and charged on November 19^th with possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver drugs.

After being released, she tweeted: ‘Surrendered myself at 7 a.m., got released at 11:30 a.m. *Expetive* what you heard. And my mug shot’s cute.’ She’s 18 years old; I can almost forgive her for wanting to get some publicity about being in custody for more than a few hours. It must be very cool to get yourself a nice little record when you’re so young.

What I find most worrying about all these occurrences is how people, not just on social media managed to completely look past the crime in every situation. No one comments on how the crimes were quite serious. Aside from Bathrick’s small drug misdemeanour, the other two have some serious charges brought against them.

People entirely ignore the crime and the charges, looking past everything for the sake of that chiselled jaw, bikini pose and perfect makeup. It’s startling when we sit back and realise just how aesthetically driven we all are.

With there already being talk of making Jeremy Meeks a reality television star, I think it’s duly time for us to take a step back and look past appearances. There’s a more to see beyond these pictures and I don’t just mean in regards to these sexy mug-shots. 

Tom Welby

Tom has just graduated from University of East London in Creative and Professional Writing. He loves writing and is currently interning as a content writer hoping to go further. His other loves include Arnold Schwarzenegger films and his dog. Follow him @TomAtSMF

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