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Thu 14 Apr, 2022 07:45 am
Every time a tv reporter says “this is horrifying footage to watch, but it’s necessary that you see it”, I immediately think “no - they’re just selling misery”. This morning they just showed a young Ukrainian mother finding the body of her child among bombed-out debris.
Six months after George Floyd was murdered, they were still playing several uninterrupted minutes of the murder several times a day. They’d say the weak, fake disclaimer before every time- “you should be warned, this is difficult to watch.”
When a horrible natural disaster occurs, or a man-made calamity like a mass shooting, without fail you get reporters shoving microphones into freshly bereaved peoples faces and asking, “How does this make you feel?”
I mean, I get it. If it bleeds it leads.
But I can’t help but wonder about the editors and producers that decide to run that stuff. Do they have families, consciences, morals that they just ignore because the stuff sells? And I can’t help but wonder about the people who watch that stuff - Someone has to be, to account for the ratings. Are they empty headed, or cold hearted, or just doing what normal folks do?
I mean, a lot of that stuff makes me feel physically ill.
Maybe I’m just unrealistic.
@snood,
you think like I do - I agree it should not be shown at the very least to be respectful of the victims. But unfortunately some people just do not feel that way - I think they justify it by saying the story needs to be told - well tell the damn story but you do not need to glorify it in the way in which they do.
It is with similar with those real crime and many other forms of media/entertainment. Often times these movies, series, etc. are made without the thought of the victims - they are made to make money - bottom line. Recently I found that the series about the girl from Plainville - the one where the girl bullied her boyfriend into killing himself - the family was not involved- they portrayed the family in a negative light - glorifying their negative relationships and making this part extreme, and they put a slant on it to sympathize with the criminal. They wanted to sell the story - without a care that this poor family not only has to go through this again, but seeing them showing more sympathy to the girl who had a hand in killing their son/brother/nephew.
Yeah I am with you - I sometimes wonder how these people can sleep at night.
@Linkat,
When I saw that they were advertising ‘The Girl From Plainville’, I remembered the case, and when it happened.
I didn’t even try watching the series on Hulu. To refresh my memory, I found the original ‘20/20’ broadcast that had reported the story. That girl pushed that poor young man to suicide, as plain as the nose on your face. And she had to spend the bare minimum time in jail about it.
When I read a synopsis of the tv series I noticed that- just as you said - they are putting a positive spin on the criminal, and smearing the boy’s family. I guess some marketing genius told them that’s what would sell.
But sometimes don't we need proofs that something happened?
@snood,
snood wrote:
When I saw that they were advertising ‘The Girl From Plainville’, I remembered the case, and when it happened.
I didn’t even try watching the series on Hulu. To refresh my memory, I found the original ‘20/20’ broadcast that had reported the story. That girl pushed that poor young man to suicide, as plain as the nose on your face. And she had to spend the bare minimum time in jail about it.
When I read a synopsis of the tv series I noticed that- just as you said - they are putting a positive spin on the criminal, and smearing the boy’s family. I guess some marketing genius told them that’s what would sell.
At the expense of the family. I live in the general area. Good friends of mine grew up in the same town as this boys family and know the family well. They are just sick over this series.
@Yalow,
Yalow wrote:
But sometimes don't we need proofs that something happened?
Put it to you this way - say your child or mother was killed in some horrific way - would you want this video plastered all over the world? Does everyone in the world need to view it to prove it happened?
Is it not enough that it is viewed by the people who are responsible for determining the guilt or innocence of the individual charged as being responsible?
@Linkat,
Linkat wrote:
Yalow wrote:
But sometimes don't we need proofs that something happened?
Put it to you this way - say your child or mother was killed in some horrific way - would you want this video plastered all over the world? Does everyone in the world need to view it to prove it happened?
Is it not enough that it is viewed by the people who are responsible for determining the guilt or innocence of the individual charged as being responsible?
Exactly. And even if the media still insist on showing it, there is no justification for repeatedly showing it several times a day sometimes weeks and months after the event occurred.
If you need proof then you need to read newspapers, check court transcripts, find witness statements......don't wait for television stations whose job is entertainment to explain things in a documentary style broadcast.
@Linkat,
Quote:Put it to you this way - say your child or mother was killed in some horrific way - would you want this video plastered all over the world?
I see your point - I agree.
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