EDITORIAL SORDID THEATER THE KOBE BRYANT CASE BRINGS OUT THE WORST IN US ALL.

SHORTLY after Colorado prosecutors announced they were filing sexual-assault charges against Lakers star Kobe Bryant, the sordid theater began.

First came Bryant's Friday press conference, where the celebrity, his wife at his side, pleaded his case: Bryant was guilty of adultery, but not sexual assault.

Then came a weekend of close analysis, of experts scrutinizing the Bryants' every word, their clothes, their demeanor. Were the couple earnest and sincere, or calculating and manipulative?

Everyone had an opinion.

It was clear his 19-year-old accuser's life will be on trial as much as Bryant's, albeit without his comforting access to PR consultants and high- priced attorneys.

And the parade of friends and acquaintances of the alleged victim began.

She was described as an honest, cheerful young woman, a great singer and outgoing personality who was strong and would endure the coming ordeal stoutly.

Alternately, she was portrayed as a publicity seeker who once tried out for ``American Idol.'' An acquaintance told reporters she had gone through a year of emotional turmoil and overdosed on drugs just two months ago, prompting a national round of armchair psychotherapy, with many an uninformed pundit quick to offer a diagnosis.

Then, it got even worse.

In the age of instant information and insatiable curiosity, privacy is all but nonexistent - even for alleged victims of sexual assault.

For no reason other than the fact that they could, unscrupulous Web publishers posted not only Bryant's accuser's name, but also her photograph and other information.

So much for the privacy she had tried, hopelessly, to protect.

And now, months before the next ``trial of the century'' begins, the spectacle of the century is well under way.

Amid all the accusations and speculations, as our society grows ever more fascinated with the public failures and traumas of celebrities, it becomes all too easy to forget that the protagonists in this sordid tale are real people.

What we're watching unfold before us is true reality TV, not the contrived kind where network producers hand-pick the characters, plot and surroundings, where the winners take home $1 million and the ``losers'' still get to become mini-celebrities in their own right.

In this ugly reality, there are no winners.

If Bryant is convicted, then his accuser will have to live the rest of her life as not only the victim of sexual assault, but also one whose reputation is sure to be trashed in a court fight that the whole world will witness.

If Bryant is acquitted, it will only be after enduring a long and costly defense, and after his once good-as-gold name is permanently tarnished.

The sordid theater will go on; our own, unhealthy predilections for gossip and voyeurism ensure it.

This unseemly drama is pure tragedy, yet food for the voracious appetite of America for spectacle.