Stalking  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term stalking is used with some differing definitions in psychiatry and psychology, as well as in some legal jurisdictions as a term for a criminal offense.

Stalking in media and literature

• The Cable Guy: film starring Jim Carey and Matthew Broderick, a cable installer develops an extreme attachment to a customer; ends up stalking him, believing customer to be a perfect match (intimacy seeker)
• Fatal Attraction: film starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, man is stalked by a woman with whom he had a brief affair (rejected stalker); A scene in this film is probably the origin of bunny boiler as a synonym for stalker, even though it took over five years to become a widespread allusion.
• Les Miserables: novel by Victor Hugo, with several film adaptations and a Broadway musical; ex-convict Jean Valjean is stalked for years by an obsessed police inspector; Marius displays stalkerish tendencies towards Cosette (he is her secret admirer)
• Play Misty for Me: Clint Eastwood movie about the erotomanic stalking of a radio celebrity
• The Phantom of the Opera: book written by Gaston Leroux, Erik (the Phantom) stalks and later kidnaps the singer Christine. (Intimacy Seeker)

See also

• Cyberstalking
• Erotomania
• Game stalker
• Persecution
• Poison pen letter
• Secret admirer
• Surveillance
• Terrorism
• Threat Management Unit
• Violence