tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post5736649386009441326..comments2023-09-07T22:24:51.654-05:00Comments on League of Melbotis: Balloon BoyThe Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-52261644052636393002009-10-19T15:06:49.111-05:002009-10-19T15:06:49.111-05:00I'm not sure what else one can say about a lyi...I'm not sure what else one can say about a lying dork flailing for fame at the expense of credibility and his childrens' welfare, and how the media and populace are complicit.<br /><br />There's a lot of leeway in there for opinion.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-91792182438908918372009-10-19T13:34:07.290-05:002009-10-19T13:34:07.290-05:00Okay, now I've clearly spent too much time thi...Okay, now I've clearly spent too much time thinking about this whole Balloon Boy thing, and I've embarrassed myself.J.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03903186469796595837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-73535336680853991402009-10-19T11:01:47.248-05:002009-10-19T11:01:47.248-05:00Couple of things:
First, kind of a tangential poin...Couple of things:<br />First, kind of a tangential point, but I disagree with the assertion that the internet has made media news coverage more reliable. For every flawed media story that bloggers and internet posters help to expose and correct, I think they muddy the waters of fact and fiction in 10 other areas. Think of the literally thousands of blogs and web pages that are filled with flawed, distorted, and erroneous "evidence" supporting 9/11 conspiracy theories and every other nutty conspiracy that's out there. Think of all of the different blog sites (often ones with some political agenda) that report distorted or flawed "news" information and try to pass it off as news without any sort of reliable fact checking or safeguards to help ensure accuracy . Second, the emotional reaction to this balloon boy story can't just be disregarded as only affecting people because they were concerned about the safety of a child. Children suffer abuse, go neglected, and are even killed across this country every hour of every day, but it doesn't become a "breaking news story" that captures everyone's attention until the story involves a shiny balloon and a kid supposedly dangling at 5000 feet. There was genuine concern involved, sure, but this story got the immediate, huge reaciton it got because of sensationalism. If people are really just concerned about the safety of kids, we'd be seeing a lot more coverage about the state of our child protective services programs (which are in pretty bad shape in most places), about the state of our foster care systems, and about children's health care and insurance. We don't see news helicopters and national coverage following the cars of drunk parents who have their kids in the car. This story didn't catch the public's eye (or the media's attention) just because people love kids so much. <br />I'm not saying that we should all necessarily feel guilty for watching the coverage (it seems that human nature draws us to these spectacles). I'm just saying that, in the end, it doesn't seem like a whole lot of harm was done by this hoax, but that people may be wanting an awful lot of punishment on this thing (multiple felonies)- and I think part of the reason is because people are just embarrassed about having gotten caught up rubbernecking. I'm not saying the Heene family doesn't deserve punishment, but multiple felonies for a case where no one was ever really put in any physical danger? There were some financial damages in this case (which should be repaid), but no one was actually ever in physical jeopardy, and the real damage (and the damages that we seem to want to punish the Heene's for) seems to amount to the fact that people got all worked up. I'm not sure that the Heene's are the only ones responsible for the huge reaction that this story received. If this story had only gottena small amount of coverage on a local affiliate or a small story in a local paper (as opposed to being picked up by a bunch of national networks who couldn't resist the spectacle), would we even be talking about this thing?<br />(and yes, I'll grant you that Richard Heene is a big ol' jackass. That's not really in question here.)J.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03903186469796595837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-65183699828628752102009-10-19T10:58:51.790-05:002009-10-19T10:58:51.790-05:00I don't think this incident is a indication th...I don't think this incident is a indication that society as a whole is in danger. Don't blame reality TV or the internet. <br /><br />I agree with NTT that this was the work of some fame seeking loser. After his kid threw up on a couple of morning shows it sounds like he realized that they'd done something wrong but the idiot father was still trying to sell it. <br /><br />I really hope they throw the book at this guy. All of those resources wasted on this stunt may have been needed elsewhere so we are lucky there wasn't a real tragedy off camera.Simon MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14749383583517044214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-21418528260254181312009-10-19T10:40:42.802-05:002009-10-19T10:40:42.802-05:00Before I realized my post would run to novel-lengt...Before I realized my post would run to novel-length, I had originally started by comparing the Balloon Boy to the 2003 movie, "Chicago", which I was watching when I started on the post. <br /><br />And I like "Chicago". So shut up.<br /><br />But by 1975 the story of those exploiting ill-fortune for fame and manipulating the mass media was so polished it resulted in "Chicago". As NTT says, not a new idea at all.<br /><br />Also, Catherine Zeta-Jones in "Chicago" is just a good idea.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-79396494237082741312009-10-19T10:10:43.953-05:002009-10-19T10:10:43.953-05:00That Gawker article was atrocious. Gawker, of all ...That Gawker article was atrocious. Gawker, of all media outlets, should not be wagging the finger and posting moral indignation at the collapse of modern society. They're the internet equivalent of A Current Affair with a more sardonical bent in their reporting. Hypocrites.<br /><br />The hand-wringing here is completely ludicrous. Before television and the internet, are people saying no one utilized hoax events or fraud to raise themselves to fame and fortune; that the yellow rag newsapapers of the day didn't wantonly hype untruthful events to manipulate the populace? <br /><br />Frankly, I think modern society and the internet makes our period better. From the first second, there were skeptics that called to question the whole event. There's an army of people that will use their own time to root out fraud and share information. You can't get away with a national hoax very well in this day and age. Look at the way bloggers shot down Dan Rather's story on Bush's military career. Look at when the bloggers investigated and revealed how an AP photographer manipulated the Lebanon conflict a few years ago. I love how the Y generation thinks things were so great in earlier generations without any clue as to the real events that occurred. <br /><br />Gawker castigates us for watching the event but then says, well, we acknowledge that the page views for such things are astronomical so we do it. If Gawker is so appalled at such a phenonmenon as reality TV ruining the cultural landscape, their justification for continuing coverage is absurd. Who writes these articles?? Gawker justifies its complicit actions by citing monetary returns yet has the gall to condemn every other viewer who tuned into the story is the epitome of hypocrisy.<br /><br />There is no way you can blame "reality TV" for this. The event was the work of a unstable mind who worked to manipulate simple human emotions about the concern for another human being in a sensational and dramatic event. I guess we should just turn our backs on any event where a person is in peril based on the off-chance it is a hoax. Give me a break Gawker. And your writer needs to take a rhetoric class. I'm more saddened by the pathetic attempt at an editorial by a writer with no clue on how to construct an accurate argument let alone a thematic proposition.NTThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03901133429286964552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-76676395856631810692009-10-19T09:57:46.317-05:002009-10-19T09:57:46.317-05:00Punishment for a hoax in which people lost time an...Punishment for a hoax in which people lost time and money (not just the public gaping, which I don't think anybody is actually mad about, but that's the standard storyline, so that's what goes to print) is nothing new. Its why we invent parables like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", to keep us from rounding everyone up to go hunting for a wolf that doesn't exist.<br /><br />I guess I absolutely do not feel guilty about caring if some kid was in danger, and am not embarrassed that, given the info I had, I believed that this kid was airborn. And frankly find the internet's insistence on wagging the finger at "us" for being "duped" to be a bit ridiculous. There's such a thing as being a passive observer in these things as well when every website is blasting the status of the incident. We may as well be scolded for knowing about Kanye's outburst at the VMA's.<br /><br />Rather, its okay to say "WTF?" when it comes to someone doing something stupid which wastes public resources, and, frankly, is that poorly planned. If I had wasted my Sheriff's department's budget and time on a fame-seeking asshole, I'd be lookingf or ways to make sure it didn't happen again, too.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-41872078096962890932009-10-19T09:31:41.405-05:002009-10-19T09:31:41.405-05:00Having deleted my earlier, more longwinded comment...Having deleted my earlier, more longwinded comment, suffice it to say that I'm just wary of this whole Balloon Boy thing setting a bad precedent (in terms of punishment) for future hoaxers. I don't want my fellow Austinites whipping and hanging me after I embarrass all of them with one of my convincing UFO/ghost/monster hoaxes. Hoaxing is probably significantly less fun when you know they might send you to prison for it.J.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03903186469796595837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-17626048714130110332009-10-19T09:24:38.252-05:002009-10-19T09:24:38.252-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.J.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03903186469796595837noreply@blogger.com