It took less than 24 hours after the bombing in Boston last week for all the major news stations to stop carrying stories of the victims, survivors or the first responders. Since that horrible day it's been 24/7 glorification of two inbred lowlifes. You can't turn around without seeing a school photo or closed circuit screen capture of these two thugs. Even though the media speaks of their horrible crimes with such vigor all they're really doing is creating two more celebrities that the twisted wrecks of our society will come to worship and glorify and eventually emulate in another horrific and bloody crime that will leave more innocents dead and another villain or villains deified by our less than honorable news media.
But I'm not about to put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the news people. We are the crack addicts of sensationalistic hearsay, inflamed rumors and half truths. No matter how much we might boo hoo to each other about the suffering of others, collectively we crave to see the ceded underbelly of our society as if it's some form of entertainment or worse yet, as if we're entitled to it based on misinterpreted civil rights. We scream for the horrific and the media is more than willing to feed that insatiable hunger.
People say that the steady and persistent dose of violence that is spewed across our TVs, movie theaters, radios, video games and most publications has no affect on the minds of our youth yet companies will spend millions of dollars for one 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl in order to influence the viewers to buy their product. If we're all about money well spent, why waste the big bucks on a short sound byte? I would imagine the makers of the simulated war games videos would argue out of both sides of their mouths that a 30 second commercial will help drive sales but the games themselves would have no affect on the minds of those constantly playing it.
I sometimes wonder if there were no telecasts, no endorsements, no outrageous contracts, no spectators, no medals nor awards, how many of our precious athletes would actually compete? If criminals were dealt with quickly, harshly and with no fanfare, do you really think we'd have as many glory seeking freaks that feel they deserve their chance in the lime light even if it's for notorious reasons? I'm reasonable enough to know that evil will always present itself from time to time. I'm just tired of seeing this great country of ours continue to give a platform to those who seek to do harm if only for that fleeting moment of perceived fame.
Well said John.
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