In today’s PARADE, Leonoardo DiCaprio describes his response to hype about the Titanic.

“I was very much portrayed in the press as a heartthrob,” he said. “My instinctive reaction to this tabloid madness was to want to run away.”

Rhetorically, this is a double whammy. First there’s the word reaction, which is a spontaneous response to stimulus, such as shrieking, cussing or fainting. It’s a split-second thing — not a synonym for an opinion or any kind of response that takes more than a few seconds to form.

We’re guessing that DiCaprio’s misgivings about the media formulated with time, headline after headline, picture after picture, day after day. The only reason reaction would work is if a photographer or reporter snuck up on Leo and he made a mad dash.

Second, there’s the modifier instinctive. A reaction, by definition, happens instinctively. It is redundant to say “instinctive reaction.”