It's a bird, it's a plane...nope, it's actually a poorly constructed aircraft designed by Richard Heene, a Colorado father who has apparently been scheming ways to get his family a reality television show. On Thursday, October 15, news stations were frantically covering the story of the six-year old boy that was supposedly trapped in this balloon. Many viewers across the country, including myself and all my roommates, tuned in as we waited for the balloon to land on the ground and see if little Falcon Heene was all right. When the balloon landed, the initial reaction was relief that no one was injured. However, the reaction that followed was suspicion. Why did newscasters spend all afternoon following a homemade UFO with nothing inside it? Why were the media outlets so eager to cover a story with absolutely no solid evidence? All valid questions...and questions were still burning when the Heene family appeared on Larry King Live.
Everything seemed so scripted, and Falcon dropped the bomb that the whole thing was for 'the show'. The Heene's desperate attempt for publicity worked surprisingly well, minus little Falcon's slip. I mean, think about it. They may or may not get a reality show out of it, but for at least a few days they had everyone in America talking about how ridiculous they were. Personally, that isn't exactly the way I'd like to be talked about, but in their minds, being in the public sphere in a negative light is better than being left alone. So I am reminded of the Kanye West/Taylor Swift incident at the VMA's earlier this year. It seems like people are going out of their way to make fools out of themselves just to get publicity. So my question is, why are we letting them win? We're essentially enabling them to get what they want. Sure, it gives us a source of entertainment...we're amazed how far some people will go and we get a kick out of watching them make fools out of themselves. But keep in mind that these same people who we are 'supporting' by showing interest are the same people who were aiming to manipulate us in the first place. I say we stop this most recent media trend in it's tracks and stop batting an eye at people trying to promote themselves and focus on giving our attention to people who deserve the attention.
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If that's the case, then we all need to stop watching every reality show that is on television. I am not certain what % of shows fit this genre, but it has to be high. Because it is high, that must mean that people watch and if people watch, that makes advertisers very happy, and they pay to run commercials on these reality shows, making more reality shows pop up. It's a vicious cycle. Additional fuel for these types of shows is the addictive qualities that fame seems to support. People just don't want their 15 minutes anymore...they see reality fame as an easy way to some easy money..regardless of how foolish they make themselves or their families appear.
ReplyDeleteThe whole concept of reality TV is just getting really out of hand, in my opinion. The lengths to which people will debase themselves just to see their faces on cable is cause for concern.
ReplyDeleteso this blog caught my eye right away! It is very sad what people do to get attention. It makes me laugh that the whole balloon boy was a hoax. But I found it quite entertaining seeing as how the story took place in the state I am from! Yeah you got to love Colorado!
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