h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I seem to have been deemed a nutter in this thread - specifically this post F19585?thread=312411&post=4018845#p4018476

in response to my original post F19585?thread=312411&skip=0&show=20#p4002287

Biggots will always be around.

Any comments anyone?

Mort

Hmmm....

Personally, my opinion would be that you go a bit too far in calling the poster a "bigot".

The poster (in less than eloquent language) appeared to be pointing out that a huge chunk of what we see as entertainment probably bothers *some* percentage of the populace.

It's possible that people struggling with overeating are bothered by the "how much food can you eat in 15 minutes" contests that have been around for centuries.

It's possible that vegetarians are bothered by the various contests and feats involving live animals and insects on shows such as "Survivor".

There are also people out there who complain that all the attention on professional sports competitions on TV is detrimental and offensive to children who are less coordinated, or even mobility impaired.

Religious people are sometimes offended by TV shows that portray "witches" favorably, such as the show 'Charmed'. Atheists are sometimes offended by the blatant Christianity in other shows.

And in your post, Mort, you acted like using cancer as entertainment would be something new and disgusting -- actually, it's been used in entertainment for at least a few decades now -- rampant in soap operas, made for TV movies, books for women and teen girls -- almost never portrayed with anything approaching accuracy, solely for the drama. And yes, people have always complained about those, too.

I think the poster was simply pointing out that at this point in our culture, all the complaining as gotten a little old. For absolutely anything on TV, someone out there will find it offensive. The poster's reaction seemed to be one of "big deal -- if you don't like it, don't watch it. there may well be things you watch that I don't like, but I'm not going to sit here and rant and rave about at it, I'm sick of hearing it."

You may well not agree with that attitude, but I think calling the person a bigot for those sentiments goes considerably too far.

And I think you misinterpreted what he was saying -- he did not appear to be calling people "nutters" for being anorexic -- he appeared to be calling the people "nutters" who think that no one should be able to watch a show because it bothers a certain segment of the population.

And by the way, it is certainly possible to stay alive on nothing but water for 40 days, especially if you prepare your body in advance. You may well do permanent organ damage in the process, but this Blaine fellow doesn't seem to care much about that kind of thing.

Hi Mikey

Yes you are right - i was wrong to call the poster a bigot. He/she got the brunt of inner bitterness which was unfair and unwarranted.

I admit i am oversensitive on some issues and because of that tend not to comment and then when i do it seems that everything i haven't said comes out in one big thing which may or may not be entirely relevant to the particular point i am trying to make.

However, i am still annoyed at David Blaine - which is a shame as i always thought he was kind of cool. Guess he just hit an inner personal nerve with this one.

Thanks for your feedback anyway

Mort

Personally, I have relatively little respect for David Blaine, and rather less so for people who get all excited about watching such stunts.

And the distinction there is important, from my perspective.

People like Blaine wouldn't be getting paid to do this kind of thing if it wasn't for all the people who want to watch it -- it's a supply and demand type issue.

If you don't want to see this kind of thing on TV, the only way to really get there is to work to change the culture, so that the demand won't be there anymore.

In a way, I think that's what you were trying to do with your post. It's just that the segment of the population that enjoys this type of thing is also a segment of the population that is probably unlikely to respond to an argument of "you shouldn't watch this because it is disgusting and degrading to some people" -- after all, these folk also watch professional wrestling and get kicks out off of the sideshows at carnivals.

Mikey's