Why I Have Some Empathy for Balloon Boy's Dad

So the Heene family put one over on us, you and me, just plain folks and families all across the country. But CNN and MSNBC and Fox??! And those giant, senior broadcast institutions of newsworthiness, NBC, ABC and CBS, who certify legitimacy by just covering such stories with a straight face? Did any of them find a minute to wonder if their scraping of the hogwash/bullshit/celebrity-baked crap from the bottom of the news barrel and serving it up 24/7 doesn't have something to do with creating a climate that mistakes entertainment for news to an extent that it all but seduces a Richard and Mayumi Heene into believing they are -- even if what they dream up to qualify is a hoax -- entitled to their 15 minutes? I don't know, but I have some empathy for Balloon Boy's Dad.

 

Comments

[davemartin7777]

I eagerly await Balloon Boy's book... maybe he can get Palin's ghostwriter.

[socsdd]

of course one ought to feel sorry for the heenes. very sorry that they are part of a sick society that insanely promotes the pursuit of self fame and glory at the expense of everything humane and social. Very sorry that they are part of the infantile race called American.

[SkuddGobang]

It started with Survivor. Then "American Idol" and then it went into a tail-spin.

Sure there were "reality" shows before Survivor but hey didn't seem as sleazy and voyeuristic before the days of web sites, fan forums, blogs and Tweets.

At one time, being "famous" required a talent of some sort. You had to be able to sing or dance or act or explain science to kids in an entertaining way.

But now... Sanjaya and William Hung can just become famous for humiliating themselves in public. Now to be "famous," all you need is a complete lack of shame. "Real" stars are squeezed off of "E!" and "real" news off of CNN by those trash-in-the-pan "celebrities" who win instant fame on reality shows or by having 8 kids at once.

[MelvinZHoppe]

from today's NY Times editorial by Frank Rich
"Norman Lear, about the only prominent American to express any empathy for little Falcon’s father, vented on The Huffington Post, calling out CNN, MSNBC, Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS alike for their role in “creating a climate that mistakes entertainment for news.” "

Huffington Post might not be as bad but it does highlight prominently so called 'popular news'. Nobody's perfect as Joe E Brown says at the end of 'Some Like IT Hot" speaking of which-Billy Wilder director of that film also directed a lesser known film precisely about sensationalism in the news. probably the best film about the subject starring Kirk Douglas titled," Ace in the Hole". Also known I believe under another title, "The Big Circus"-highly recommended.

[MDCambridge]

The media wags the public and the public barks at the closet door.

[elo]

Well, but he did get his 15 minutes. So he was entitled to it, pretty much. He just wanted more... which he actually might have gotten if he'd just done the grunt-work of brand-building.. http://blog.marketingdoctor.tv/2009/10/19/john-tantillos-brand-winner-and-loser-gm-and-the-balloon-boy-family.aspx

[elo]

Well, but he did get his 15 minutes. So he was entitled to it, pretty much. He just wanted more... which he actually might have gotten if he'd

[AspenFreePress]

The best thing about the balloon hoax is the kid can play himself in the movie. I figure there are several Hollywood producers in Aspen who would sign him in a minute.
Sterling Greenwood/Aspen Free Press

[deepfreezevideo]

Mr. Lear, many people were sounding similar warnings about this decline in news media decades ago.
In fact, the movie "Broadcast News", often mistaken as a love story, was a gigantic warning of this very situation and so was the eerily prophetic "Network".
No one listened then, no one listened to the warnings about the economic meltdown and no one listened to the warnings about the oil crisis either.
Let's face it Mr. Lear, Americans and their leaders have a very serious listening problem, and I for one am sick of living in a nation where people have peanut butter in their ears.
And it's pretty much too late to do anything about any of it now, because our fate is pretty much sealed, and we are pretty much DOOMED.
We were idiots then, we're idiots now, and we will be idiots when this whole charade collapses.
I cry for my children and their children.

[caviler]

*sigh*

I see what you are saying but I cannot agree. I think it's the memory of that poor kid throwing up on television as he tried to prop up his father's lies. I just can't feel much empathy for a father who put his child through that nightmare.

[clearpepsi]

well put, yeah.. the father has failed his family and his own life... his is a story of why one should go to college... I feel the most sorry for his wife -- she seems to not know this guy could get their kids taken away from them...

[Americain]

Norman, I have empathy for Richard Heene but for other reasons. This guy wanted to be a star, and entertain and inform kids by being a slightly crazy science guy like Bill Nye. I see nothing wrong with this, indeed, I find it to be admirable. Of course he was obsessed and this obsession got him into big time trouble. But other than his all consuming desire to be a TV star I find nothing wrong with this man or his dreams. I just feel it's way too easy to ridicule a guy who just wanted what many actors want... to make it in a tough and unforgiving business and maybe, just maybe have a little fun in the process. Most are laughing at this guy but I can't. It's hard to watch someone's dreams go up in flames no matter how boneheaded he may outwardly appear.

[Madhyamika]

Norman Lear's sympathy is misplaced. This foolish couple taxed the emergency response system, wasted tax dollars, air traffic was disrupted, police resources stretched, and potentially put the balloon chasers in danger. They have no concern over the welfare of other people.

If all they tried to do is to put a hoax on the gullible TV networks we might laugh it off, but they have gone way too far with the balloon plot. And look at the psychological harm they are doing to their kids. A fine negative example they are setting. Some people just ought not to be parents.

[erasmus888]

I agree. He made a big mistake when he involved his kid in the hoax. People were horrified thinking that this child had fallen out and died. Now the people and he media won't be happy until he PAYS.

[hulagirrrl]

I can relate to the empathy part, because I thought all along that the docu drama TV is enticing people to want to be on TV, just as we love to sit there watching... and letting live pass us by.

[doctorkosan]

Banks keep tempting me with their vaults full of government money (my taxes) but I haven't sent my son in to rob one.

[SonyaInTx]

Excellent point! :D

[Ellyllon]

Fair point!

[the964kid]

Maybe Heene's lawyer can use that as his defense?