I have reached the conclusion that the news media organizations must be a stepchild of the MPAA. Seriously, when was the last time a fatality was shown on the news? Dead people are taboo as are the "live" events that got them there.
I remember a few weeks back watching live coverage of the tsunami in Japan as it was happening. A helicopter with a film crew and live feed was hovering over the mass of debris and water which was destroying everything in its path. People included.
It took a few minutes before whoever was in charge of broadcast content decided to kill (no pun intended) the feed. Then the same replays of the devastation was rebroadcast for weeks, minus the Japanese people drowning.
I'm not completely insensitive, I felt horrible for those folks.
But here is the thing, does the lack of showing the ultimate tragedies on the news alleviate the reality of the event? Except for the friends and families I'm guessing no.
Who hasn't driven by an accident on the freeway and failed to glance over to spot a potential victim with a rag draped over them? Do dead people look differently when the life is gone from them?
Network TV makes its' fortune off of death and the dying. On any given cable channel a dead body or shooting can be seen being portrayed, and that is socially acceptable. Probably because it isn't real.
Hell, my girlfriend won't watch a lion eating a gazelle on natgeo because in her mind it is cruel.
It makes me wonder what kind of stuff passes for entertainment these days. I have taken to people watching mainly because human drama is unedited, non scripted and live. One of my favorite activities is listening to my neighbors (who have since divorced) fight. On a really good day they would take it out in the street.
Another pastime was watching the bus stops following a snow storm, where some unsuspecting victim while waiting for the bus will inevitably get doused with slush and water from a passing car. It really is one of the funniest things a person can witness.
Now before you say it, I know how mean this sounds. How twisted and screwed up is a guy who enjoys the misfortune of others? Hell the Germans have their own word for it in "Schadenfreude". It can't be that bad.
Here is my justification - I can witness something great, beautiful, bizarre (pick an adjective) and take it for what it is. I may enjoy it, I may hate it. Either way my feelings about a given event, tragic or not, has absolutely no effect on the eventual outcome. I am not that narcissistic.
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