Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

News: Let us become steel shields that defend the ideals of the Glorious Revolution and Taijituan democracy!

Author Topic: Tragedy? I think not.  (Read 2299 times)

Offline Xyrael

  • *
  • Posts: 1854
  • The Haradrim Empire - Submit to your new God.
Tragedy? I think not.
« on: August 01, 2007, 12:32:32 AM »
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6920156.stm

Normally I would be upset that this happened, but the fact American media requires 5 helicopters (+1 police helicopter) for a car chase is absolutely pathetic.

Quote
In Los Angeles, a service exists whereby viewers, in return for a monthly subscription, are paged every time a pursuit is being shown.

I am sorry, but if you believe humans to be evolved and civilized, you are wrong. What other creature asks to be interrupted in the middle of often important activities to idly watch another man nearly kill people?

More importantly, why was Los Angeles media covering a car chase in Phoenix? Is it really that important? I would think at least this would be more important to Los Angeleans: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-crash30jul30,1,5736403.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
I have become, again and again.

Offline Omnipius

  • *
  • Posts: 108
  • Avernikas
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2007, 02:05:31 AM »
Car chases are a more popular past time and entertainment for Log Angelenos than soccer is for Brazilians.
"Calium videre eessit, et eraos ad sidera tollere vultus"

Offline Tacolicious

  • Your Friendly Neighborhood Tacoman
  • *
  • Posts: 4898
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2007, 02:08:34 AM »
The other stupid thing is that they have the pilots doing the reporting as well as the flying... something like this happening was only a matter of time. Personally I'd like to see more news blimps or satellite news could be interesting to see.
http://www.nationstates.net/wheresoever

"Reality is an illusion albeit a persistant one"
"Wisest is he who knows he is not wise"
"Nothing is fun when you have to do it, that's why you don't see a lot of old whores giggling over sex"


Delicious Comrade of the most Awesome Party

Offline Eientei

  • *
  • Posts: 478
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2007, 02:09:39 AM »
This is why NASCAR is the most popular entertainment in the US.  People don't go to a racetrack to see a bunch of cars drive in an oval five hundred times, they go to see sploshuns.

Offline Myroria

  • Citizen
  • *
  • Posts: 4345
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2007, 02:10:17 AM »
This reminds me of a stand-up routine.

"The helmet is the perfect example of human stupidity. At some time in our history, we were doing things that involved heads being cracked open. So instead of avoiding doing these things, we invented the helmet so we could continue our head-cracking lifestyle."
"I assure you -- I will be quite content to be a mere mortal again, dedicated to my own amusements."

Offline Tacolicious

  • Your Friendly Neighborhood Tacoman
  • *
  • Posts: 4898
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2007, 02:20:42 AM »
Gotta love being a race of schizophrenic apes!  :D
http://www.nationstates.net/wheresoever

"Reality is an illusion albeit a persistant one"
"Wisest is he who knows he is not wise"
"Nothing is fun when you have to do it, that's why you don't see a lot of old whores giggling over sex"


Delicious Comrade of the most Awesome Party

Offline Omnipius

  • *
  • Posts: 108
  • Avernikas
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2007, 02:56:17 AM »
hey! Who you calling schizophrenic? I prefer paranoid delusional, thank you.
"Calium videre eessit, et eraos ad sidera tollere vultus"

Offline Osamafune

  • *
  • Posts: 961
    • Myminicity
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2007, 03:45:59 AM »
This is why NASCAR is the most popular entertainment in the US.  People don't go to a racetrack to see a bunch of cars drive in an oval five hundred times, they go to see sploshuns.
Hey as a Nascar fan, I take offense to that  >:(

However that logic, it almost seems like F1 or Indy would be more popular... When they crash, they fly apart and everything. And the "sploshuns" are rare in Nascar. Fireball Roberts's crash changed that when he died (kinda ironic really...) back in the 50's or something and the new fuel cells were made to keep them from exploding .

Offline Anniane

  • *
  • Posts: 618
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2007, 04:40:17 AM »
I am sorry, but if you believe humans to be evolved and civilized, you are wrong. What other creature asks to be interrupted in the middle of often important activities to idly watch another man nearly kill people?

This very much depends on your definition of "evolved" and "civilized". I think it's quite a remarkable evolution to be able to sit in morbid fascination at the reckless behavior of others on the television screen. We've turned what was once the unfortunate, inevitable tragedy of death (and near-death) into entertainment. Terrible things happen every day, but now, thanks to the omnipresent masses-pleasing media, the entertainment value is captured rather than dissipated and lost. These stupid, violent, reckless actions like people driving at 100mph from police, or drunks beating each other up, don't have any redeeming value in society on their own, but with the help of the media, they do - they, in a twisted way, make faraway people happy. Violence close up is a tragedy, but seen from afar, it's a show. So I say, what other creature can take the terrible nastiness of reality and turns it into entertainment? Morally right, probably not, but a unique and remarkable trait of us humans, yes.

Offline Eientei

  • *
  • Posts: 478
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2007, 05:32:34 AM »
This is why NASCAR is the most popular entertainment in the US.  People don't go to a racetrack to see a bunch of cars drive in an oval five hundred times, they go to see sploshuns.
Hey as a Nascar fan, I take offense to that  >:(

However that logic, it almost seems like F1 or Indy would be more popular... When they crash, they fly apart and everything. And the "sploshuns" are rare in Nascar. Fireball Roberts's crash changed that when he died (kinda ironic really...) back in the 50's or something and the new fuel cells were made to keep them from exploding .

Oh, yeah.  I suppose so.  I still don't see any other possible appeal, but I can't stand to watch that stuff anyway, and I live in the South.

Offline Solnath

  • Solus Victor
  • *
  • Posts: 5920
  • Pamfu desu!
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2007, 12:51:06 PM »
NASCAR is as entertaining as watching the spin cycle on a washing machine.
Neutral Evil

Offline Allama

  • *
  • Posts: 6878
    • LibraryThing
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2007, 01:52:02 PM »
It would seem human beings (especially in "civilized" society) can find nothing better to do than be fascinated by bad things happening to other people.  A restaurant patron got beaten half to death by a random drugged-up stranger?  There's probably a video of it on YouTube with a 5-star rating.  Some asshat is driving drunk, endangering lives, busting up other people's property, and getting hunted down by the police?  That'll bring in the ratings.

Offline Solnath

  • Solus Victor
  • *
  • Posts: 5920
  • Pamfu desu!
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2007, 02:46:17 PM »
This reminds me, can anyone tell a joke that's funny but on no one's expense?
Neutral Evil

Offline Trey

  • *
  • Posts: 3957
  • ^ The best film almost no one saw in the 2000s.
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #13 on: August 01, 2007, 09:26:40 PM »
NASCAR is as entertaining as watching the spin cycle on a washing machine.

For the longest time, I refused to admit that NASCAR even qualified as a sport.  I've learned a little more about it and, though I still cannot watch a race in its entirety, I consider it a sport with marginal entertainment value  (though it still seems like the vast majority of its fans are rednecks; I mean, look at Jeff Gordon; he's hated because he is "sophisticated"; i.e. he's from California and owns a winery).  However, it's still pretty pathetic that they only turn right in two races.
"I believe every single person is extraordinary. The tragedy is that we
have a society where too many people never get to fulfill that
extraordinary potential. My view – the liberal view – is that
government’s job is to help them to do it. Not to tell people how to
live their lives. But to make their choices possible, to release their
potential, no matter who they are. The way to do that is to take power away from those who hoard it. To challenge vested interests. To break down privilege. To clear out the bottlenecks in our society that block opportunity and block progress. And so give everyone a chance to live the life they want." - Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Offline Osamafune

  • *
  • Posts: 961
    • Myminicity
Re: Tragedy? I think not.
« Reply #14 on: August 02, 2007, 02:51:36 PM »
What's pathetic is the fact that they have those two races in there and won't take them out  >:(