The Trivialization of Fear

I don't know, is it just me or is there something going on these days that so smacks of the most blatant and rampant opportunism that we don't even bat an eye? My case in point today (but there are so many that it doesn't take a weatherman to tell you there is something decidedly wrong with our cultural climate) is the show I watched on ABC last night called Traveler.

Now, maybe it is me and maybe there is something about someone who hates television deciding to watch it. I am fully aware that this medium is all about making a profit and it seems to do so now with the greatest of ease by preying on some of our most horrible fears. And let me just start with the profit side of it -- how many advertisements do they run per show these days? Is it just me or are there more commercials now than there were some 15-20 years ago when I shut off the television due to the proliferation of not just advertisements but truly awful ads? But lest I lose track of my thoughts here, what can I say about this blatant attempt to make us feel not just the fear of each other and the people we are the closest to but of every institution charged with our well-being?

If we dig a bit into this broadsided attack at everyone and everything what we find in this new series is just the well worn thriller type. The producers have pegged it as a re-running of the idea of The Fugitive. If memory serves me right, that show was based on a real case and had the hallmarks of the innocent facing the trial of proving his innocence for a murder he did not commit. I don't recall being particularly frightened by this show and that that poor doctor not only had to prove his innocence but had not been ensnared in every awful political scandal of the last 25years.

Now instead of one man searching for justice, we have these three buddies whose sole bond, thus far, seems to be their love of the Cubs. One of them (Will, who is without any traceable identity) has seemingly tricked the other two into pulling a prank so he can blow up a building in New York City. Of course, he also appears to have died in the blast. My ears then picked up the sounds of too many hollow agendas falling along with the re-invoked images of the events of September 11, 2001. Some mysterious clues are provided that have to do with one of the young man's father's involvements with the Iran-Contra scandal and the other young man's father also being a victim of government shenanigans that caused his death. Added to this stew pot are all the horrible travails of the actual events on September 11th, but more as moments now for extras to march across the 59th Street Bridge and remarks about the subways being shut down and on and on.

To me, this is the crassest of the crass because we sit there stunned by this feeling of "oh no, you don't"! Then, of course, they do and it never occurs to me to shut off the television and go to sleep because now the memory cells are activated and there is no opportunity for sleep. My whole body is recoiling with memories of that day and then when these two nice young men are frightened that their futures are over and what's more they may be sent off to Guantanomo, my whole body is in abject fear and shock of what is happening. But of course, this is just entertainment, not some kind of political commentary or made with the intent to push me as a viewer to do anything because we all know what television is for.

This kind of winkable excuse for the ways in which our inner worlds are constantly being manipulated, whether by the screaming weather people telling us to be afraid of the coming weather or the sports announcer assuring us that there is no low that any sports figure won't go to to make a ton of money or the cheeriest of news announcers who smile with the whitest of teeth as they describe the accumulated horrors of the day that have happened right here in our neighborhoods.

A friend of mine asked me why I don't take sleeping pills if I have so much trouble falling asleep. I think the answer is that I must stay vigilant because my closest friend may turn out to be a terrorist or my neighbor down the hall will have such a violent fight with his wife that he will shoot her or the weather will turn so vicious in the morning that I will be afraid to stand outside and wait for the bus.

We have descended into such a climate of fear that no one is even aware of how it is being used to sell us everything from Dunkin' Donuts to nasal sprays. I am afraid - very afraid - but am staying tuned in because I am also afraid of what will happen if I miss an episode of this new show.