Outbursts of the famous: Why so rude?

In an increasingly unfiltered, anything-goes society, moments of outrageous public behavior have become frequent spectacles, embraced by the media and devoured by the public.

In the past week, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., loudly interrupted the president's speech to proclaim him a liar; tennis star Serena Williams made a not-so-friendly offer to place the ball in a line judge's throat; and rap star Kanye West continued a long string of awkward award-show moments at MTV's Video Music Awards.

Some might pass off the incidents as power tripping, but others suggest they are signs of cultural decay that mirrors an erosion of values in America.

Everett L. Worthington, a professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, suggested that the stress that goes along with public life factors prominently in such meltdowns.

"There's a lot of pressure on folks to perform, especially the sport figures and media stars," he said.

"You could argue that the pace and stress of life has increased. The gazillion-dollar contracts, the stakes that politicians have, place an enormous amount of pressure on them for long periods of time and makes it probable that at some point, they might break down."

Del. G. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond, called Wilson's outburst during President Barack Obama's health-care address to Congress last week "inappropriate" and "beyond the pale."

The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to admonish Wilson over the comment. Loupassi said similar behavior would be wildly unacceptable in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Loupassi said West's case at the MTV awards show probably was a case of more pressure under the microscope. West interrupted country star Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for best female video and suggested that the award should have gone to singer Beyoncé.

"We're all guilty of it at some point in our lives," Loupassi said. "You just hope you don't do it on the big stage."

But it's not just celebrities, athletes and politicians.

Examples from everyday life are abundant at a time when teenagers and young adults have to be threatened with fines and disciplinary action to keep their pants pulled up and profanity is commonplace.

During the recent congressional recess, a number of town-hall meetings on Obama's proposed health-care overhaul were marred by outbursts from audience members.

Worthington said that the era of e-mails, text messages, Facebook and Twitter could be a culprit.

"We say things short and to the point now, and we don't worry about the niceties of manners and protocol," he said. "One could argue that maybe for the generation that's being trained that way, the cultural protocol of restraint has eroded to some degree."

In "Generation Me," a 2006 book by psychology professor Jean M. Twenge, the author suggests that younger generations in the U.S. increasingly are narcissistic and plagued by anxiety, depression and loneliness rooted in a divide between their expectations and reality.

But older adults, too, seem to be contributing to the death of decorum.

An example locally was the iBook sale debacle of 2005, when Henrico County residents worked themselves into a frenzy at the chance to buy $50 used laptop computers from the school system and trampled one another at Richmond International Raceway.

Late last year, a Wal-Mart worker was killed by a frenzied mob of Christmas shoppers in New York as they broke through the door for post-Thanksgiving Day bargains.

Kathy Baker, owner of the Sabot School of Etiquette in Goochland County, said manners are becoming an endangered species in the U.S.

"They still exist to those of us who care," she said, "but with the Internet and the blogging, everybody can say whatever they want. It's complete disintegration."

Baker said the recent celebrity and athlete outbursts were "indicative of what's going on in society, and it's working its way up." She added that West should be forced to sit in the back of the awards audience next time.

Baker said widespread incivility is far from a uniquely American phenomenon.

"We've joined the rest of the world thanks to the Internet and 24-hour cable TV," she said. "It's just a sign of the times."

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .