Man, this guy sums up how I feel directly. He’s way more blunt than I am (which I realize most people will find hard to believe), but it really needs to be said.

http://www.slate.com/id/2164914/fr/rss/

I think he goes a bit overboard in mocking the dead. But really, I don’t understand what people get out of watching the same pain and suffering over and over. How well broadcast tragedies can somehow unglue people from their day-to-day lives. What causes this need to be part of these mass funerals? Is this news as presented by Lifetime Drama? It’s more painful because it’s real? In church this sunday we dwelt for 30 minutes on virginia tech. We spent less than 2 on Malaria, which kills every 30 seconds. Today on CNN.com they’re still devoting roughly half of their coverage to Virginia Tech. They devoted 1 commentary about malaria.

The church is dying. The theater is dying. Perhaps it is because all of your catharsis can be found 24-hours a day by flicking on your remote. Maybe it’s not bad. Maybe this is the emotional outlet of the future. Just like Joey, Phoebe, Chandler, Rachael, Monica, and Ross became friends of everyone on the planet, perhaps these carefully chosen events are the real news. Like the best theater they allow us to empathize more deeply and laugh harder than anything in real life. I don’t know where I’m going with this. I’m pretty sure there’s a play here though.

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Comments

Tara (http://rabid-fraggle.blogspot.com/)

2007-04-25T16:35:03.000Z

I had a comment, but it blew up and turned into a post. So I’ll just say, yeah I agree with you Tim.