David Hasselhoff Drunk on Video

We always seem to have a TV on somewhere in the house (much to my husband's irritation over the high electric bill), and most of the time it's just background noise. But when I hear David Hasselhoff mentioned I run to the screen! I've been a fan for a long time. I loved Knight Rider! I mean, c'mon, how cool is a talking car? Plus, KITT was such a wise-alec! Then there was Baywatch. Sure, the critics called it Babe-watch and Boob-watch, but it was a good show! It was reminiscent of all the cheesy TV of the 70's, and I loved that, too! I could have done without his singing career, but as a sex symbol he was "mint". (I'm not the only one who remembers that word, right?)

Oh yeah, so I raced to the TV. Hmmm, video of a drunken celebrity... why does that sound familiar? But he's not driving drunk, making racist comments, or acting belligerent. He's eating what appears to be a pita sandwich. The voice-over is telling us how he "made his teenage daughter record his relapse". Then we have an expert sitting on the couch at Good Morning, America who is something like astounded and saddened by all of this. Must be a slow news day.

Beside the obvious fact that the video is all over the media, and will get pulled off the shelf every time a celebrity is drunk in public, was recording David's bender wrong? I'm no expert in psychology, but didn't his daughter experience the same thing regardless of whether she videotaped it or not? I imagine that the videotaping wasn't entirely spontaneous, either.

In my mind I know what happened:

It's morning in the Hasselhoff household. Dad comes downstairs bleary-eyed and holding his head. He sees his chipper daughter sitting at the breakfast table and tries to give her a smile.

Dad: I have a really bad hang-over.
Daughter: I know. You were really drunk last night.
Dad: Really? Was I?
Daughter: Yeah, you acted all...different.
Dad: Like how?
Daughter: Like you kept falling down, and you were really loud, repeating yourself, slurring words...
Dad: C'mon, I wasn't that bad.
Daughter: Yes, you were.
Dad: Stop exaggerating.
Daughter: It's true. I wish I had a video of you when you're drunk.

(See? That's how the whole thing started.)