I found plenty disturbing regarding the recent bombings in London - the grief, horror, and inevitable what-if-this-happened-to-me. But, what I've found, by far, the most disturbing concerns media coverage, particularly on television. I don't know why I failed to notice it earlier... Perhaps I just wasn't paying attention.
It's the commercials. Hello, news anchor. Horrific acts of terrorism in London? Scores dead and injured? Innocent victims all around, you say? The tragedy, the images - the shocked faces, the wailing and grief - it's all too much. You're breaking my heart, but my need to be informed is winning out: I'll stay tuned. Oh, you say I must wait after "these messages" have carried out? Alright. I'll wait.
happy people spreading peanut butter on bread - their lives now have meaning
fast cars VROOM VROOM over muddy fields, smiling driver
cheerful toothpaste makes dentist visit blissful
use of this deodorant will bring you love from many women
come watch this show - big glowing box will change your life!
Leave it to the tragedy of innocent victims to point out the ridiculous regard in which I hold commercials. After images of death and destruction, you're going to shove happy images of smiling-with-peanut-butter-on-bread in my face? Perhaps, on 11 September, no one broke for commercial breaks. If so, why does London deserve any less? British lives matter no less than American ones. [But, then again, I was also fuming because no tragedy of terrorism, war, or genocide in (say) Rwanda, Bali, Darfur, or Uganda received as much attention. That's another matter, though, for another time.] Is it too much to ask that, while reporting human tragedy, we're permitted a surrounding appropriate to contemplate the gravity of the situation? How can one individual viewer sit back to analyze, delive into, and come to grips with the reality of the London bombings (or Madrid attacks, Bali attacks, Rwandan genocide, and the whole mess that is Darfur) when, after five minutes of grim reporting from the scene, complete with images of victims, survivors, and wave-after-wave of stunned or silent faces (drenched in shock), we're given five minutes of loud, fast-and-furious soundbytes of
wear this shirt because you can't live otherwise
make my biscuits or your kids will be sad
Kids will be sad if I don't buy this brand of biscuits? People are DYING out there, and I'm supposed to think about biscuits, and happy people spreading peanut butter on bread? Perhaps I'm overreaching. Perhaps the news media DID give a reasonable amount of time for Reality to sink in... for most. In such a case, it would seem that I require significantly more time than most to... well... cope.
Maybe this shouldn't be something to cope with. Maybe most of you looked, watched briefly, sympathized, and then spread peanut butter on bread. With a smile. In any case, I found television on Thursday and Friday quite difficult to watch. The persistent commercials popped up - unwanted, persistent visitors. They might as well have been banging on the doors and windows, peering through the blinds. Trying to draw me away, to keep me from caring - or, perhaps, to ensure that I don't care as much. Perhaps. Of course, I don't meant to imply that the makers of (happy) peanut butter, (VROOM VROOM) fast cars, or other fine products actually want me to Care Less about Important World Events (when said events are even reported on by the media, of course). But, one must admit, the abrupt transition between death-and-destruction and happy, smiling peanut-butter lovers leaves something to be desired. At least, to me. I find them, at the least, distracting, when I want to pay attention to World Events We Should All Be Concerned With.
But, the sharp contrast between
1. passionate speeches by PM Blair
2. VROOM VROOM
brings to light another issue. While I found VROOM VROOM, biscuits or your kids will hate you, and happy peanut butter distracting, distasteful, and disrespectful Thursday and Friday, today, as the dust settles and Life gets back to Normal (but really, what IS normal?), I didn't mind the persistent reminders that I do indeed need to go buy a RV in Tacoma RIGHT NOW, NO WAITING. I guess enough time passed, finally, for me to catch up to the rest of you. But, now that happy peanut butter no longer seems offensive or, at least, blatantly out-of-place, what about the rest? What about these two posts regarding the London bombings? More-than-likely, they'll be my only mention of them on this site. So, my next post will probably be back to something less grave. Such as
1. the big glowing box changed my life again
2. use of this deodorant made my scent more tolerable for Zach
3. vroom vroom [note the little letters] in my Buick
So, does the abrupt transition between grave reflection of tragedy and terrorism, set against the backdrop of the current situation in the world we live in, back to the trivialities of my own life dampen the former and unnecessarily elevate the latter? This Friday, I'm pretty sure my primary concerns will be
1. happy hour
2. season premiere of Battlestar Galactica
3. the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Trivial, right? Especially in a world where cities are bombed, ethnic conflicts reign, and political and economic strife run rampant. So, perhaps, as I slip back into my typical routine, I'll revisit this entry. Not its content, exactly. But, it's context - its position - relative to the entries that precede it, and the entries that follow it.
And I'll see what a difference a week makes.
Posted by James at July 10, 2005 10:10 AM