Mercurial Musings

Without doubt, the recent incident at Virginia Tech was lamentable, but since everyone is talking about the actual event, I want to take a look at the media’s role in the occurrence.

From CNN to FOX News, the media giants are all over themselves with taking advantage of the situation to create some entertaining, rating garnering drama. They leapt on this “breaking news” with glee, barely able to contain their salivation.

Listening to all the anchors talk about how unspeakable, senseless, unimaginable, tragic, and horrible the massacre was, I have to wonder just how sincere they are. It’s their job to find the big scoop, and this unfortunate happenstance was paydirt. I’m not saying that none of them truly find it horrendous, but it’s hard to ignore the ridiculous zeal with which they attempt to find yet another storyline from each and every angle of anyone and everyone involved.

It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes after the shootings that students were already being interviewed. Reporters wanted to know every last aspect of each person’s experience, from what they were feeling to what they saw and heard, to what they did directly afterwards, to what they are going to do next, to how they are going to cope with the trauma…ad nauseum.

And, of course, to add to the show, there is touching piano music and images that are supposed to look nostalgic and historic despite the fact that they were taken two hours ago.

It is drama, pure and simple, and it sickens me to my very being.

Perhaps even more nauseating is the fact that this bullshit must be popular with the American public, or we wouldn’t continue to see it. It’s all about ratings. It’s all about the dollar. If you try to pretend that it is not, you are a fool.

The killings at Virginia Tech have dominated the media for days now, and no doubt will continue to for a long time. This is no surprise. After all, they are calling it the “worst mass shooting in American history.”

The media’s disgusting obsession with a single news event is not new. They have recently done the same thing with the Don Imus/Rutgers incident and…God help me…Anna Nicole Smith. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about me. They don’t care about Virginia Tech.

They care about ratings. They care about the next big story, and all the little ones they can make out of it. Media is no longer about reporting the news, but about entertaining the public.

So, sit back and enjoy the show.

Now that we are on the note over advertising, how many of you are sick of the do-whatever-it-takes-to-sell approach from our beloved products? These new attempts at garnering more consumers range from humor, shock value, controversy and subliminal inundation to downright mind control. They tell us it’s manlier to drive a certain truck – regardless of the gas it guzzles. They strive to convince us that social appearance is crucial to success in life. They long to ingrain in our psyches that being thin is the key to happiness.

In essence, they are trying to tell us what to think. The sad thing is, for the most part, it is working! To vendors, large companies, and subsidiaries, all that matters is making money. They don’t give a damn about the health of your pores. They could give a rat’s ass about your skin care. They certainly don’t care if you have a body that would make Arnold (in his younger days) green with envy. The bottom line is the dollar. Most of us know this of course, but we prefer to live in the comforts of our consumer society. That’s why we constantly buy things we don’t need, contributing to the ongoing melee of cutthroat free-market competition. Hey, that’s what makes our economy tick, right? Perhaps so, but it wouldn’t hurt us to step back and ponder just how controlled we are by these pressures that would brainwash at any cost.

Consider how many commercials there are for “Bayer”. “Bayer saved my life,” “Bayer did this…” Bayer is just ASPIRIN! Buy the Kroger brand. What about Aleve? Oh, “Aleve cures all my pains, it’s my end all, cure all pain reliever.” It’s Naproxen Sodium! You can buy the Kroger brand for half the price. It’s the same exact thing. How do so many Americans buy into this bullshit? That’s due to the skill of the teams of marketing experts that target the uneducated consumer. Just stop and think of the amount of things you’ve been duped into purchasing. If you gave it honest consideration, you might be staggered by how often you’ve been screwed up the wazoo by countless marketing schemes aimed at getting more money out of your pocketbook.

I’m not saying don’t buy anything, but for those of you who subscribe to all of this rampant advertising, take a step back and evaluate things for yourself. Don’t give the big businesses another unwarranted cent of your hard earned money. Think for yourself – buy for yourself. Don’t be led by greedy, money-hungry salesmen! Ignore the incessant commercials that proliferate your television viewing. Good luck, and till next time, keep a level head.