The controversy we deserve
Posted By Ing on October 19, 2009
Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave with Osama bin Laden the last couple weeks (or maybe hanging out in the stratosphere in a weather balloon), you’ve probably heard about the Balloon Boy.
I caught a random headline on the day it happened, and I followed the story a bit. It had that “boy falls in the well” sort of appeal — concerned family is helpless…community rallies together…nation is captivated…united in pulling for the little 6-year-old boy to survive. But now, after dozens of media interviews and an investigation by the local sheriff, it appears the whole things was a hoax.
The official line now is that the kid’s parents, obsessed by their desire to star in a reality show (in fact, they actually were on an episode of Wife Swap, or so I’ve read), had the kid hide in the attic while police frantically searched and the desperately tried to track the balloon. They staged the whole thing — their bid to prove to America that their family had the sort of wackiness and inherent drama that everybody wants to watch.
It’s a big controversy. The media is lathered in righteous indignation. Authorities plan to press charges. America is outraged.
But me? No. I beg to differ.
I was thinking about how to put my opinion of this sordid little saga into words, and then I realized — there’s a song ready-made for it. More than one, actually. So here goes. (Fair warning: there are a few four-letter words involved.)
Three songs that say…to paraphrase…no thanks, I don’t care, count me out.
So…the Balloon Boy incident is an outrage? An unforgivable act of public manipulation? Uh…no. Sure, we all got punked. The media fell for it bigtime. But hey, we’re starring in our own reality now, folks.
We only got the controversy we deserved.
You have a very good point there. I’m wondering how long it takes for them to disappear of the media radar. I suspect they will get a good long haul out of it. I suppose that is just reality of it.
R.
Us locals are so proud.
Your reality show analogy makes sense to me. It’s probably why I only vaguely know what you’re talking about. I wouldn’t know about it at all except that my mother insisted on telling me. I don’t watch reality TV anymore. Mostly because it’s not reality. Its TV reality, which we all know is its very own beast. Oh well. I don’t watch the news or the weather anymore either. I learned what I need by sticking my head out the window. And . . . I’m never wrong that way. =) Enjoyed the post!