Give Kristen Stewart and Mrs. Gary Coleman a Break

Twilight star didn't say the right thing, former child star's ex-wife didn't express the right emotion, but why should we expect any differently?

Kristen Stewart didn't say the right word. Shannon Price didn't express the right emotion. But we should cut the right amount of slack.

Stewart is a star who is clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight. Price is the former wife of Gary Coleman who is clearly out of her league.

Should we expect them be anything more than who they are?

Based on the apology Stewart issued Friday for likening paparazzi pictures to rape, the actress expects more of herself. And that's admirable because she's neither a head of state, who knows her every word is judged, nor a George Clooney, who knows how to make his every word look just so in print. 

Price isn't apologizing for posing and smiling on the day after Coleman's death, and that's admirable in its own way. She is not required to mourn, which is not to suggest that she hasn't, nor is she required to mourn in the way we think she should.  And, no, there's no correct way to sound in a 911 call, either.

Price was not and is not a media sophisticate—more like Meryl Streep in A Cry in the Dark, tone-deaf enough to talk Vegas splurges and being strapped for funeral costs in the same interview, yes, but also maybe misunderstood.

With two years of the Twilight phenenomenon under her skin, Stewart is significantly more familiar with the ways of the media--unfortunately for her, apparently. In the Elle UK interview, you can almost imagine her trying to think of the worst word in the world to describe the star experience, and then, oh, boy, coming up with it. Just what she needed: A quote that puts her at odds with the organizations she supports—and with the low profile she seemingly craves.

That's the way it works sometimes—for Stewart, for Price, for anyone who can't get out of their own way. People are who they are. As we, being people, should understand.