The Spectacle of Tragedy

http://thecollegecritics.com/2012/07/23/the-aurora-massacre-party-time-excellent/

by mosescorn • 14 years ago

2 6 14 years ago

yock2• 14 years ago

Reading this I'm reminded of the movie Network. A major network producer sees the value of producing original "disaster porn" (my term, not from the film) for public consumption in a television news magazine. Only here we see that a one-hour news magazine hardly begins to strain the attention span of the average consumer. Rather the author of this blog post seems to recognize that the public is desirous of far more, and that they may be led so easily by piecing out details bit-by-bit. How often does real life deliver on--and even exceed--it's own satire?

On a related note, the author is listed as Edward O'Neil, which just happens to be the name of the actor who portrayed Stan Mikita in the referenced film. Color me intrigued...

mosescorn• 14 years ago

I am continually amazed by how insatiable consumers are for redundant media. The current coverage of Aurora is simply rehashing known details, but readers are lured on by the promise of even the smallest tidbit of new information.

Was it Stan Mikita or Glenn?

yock2• 14 years ago

You're right. It was Glenn, the manager of the shop.

breakingwave12• 14 years ago

Not sure I entirely agree. Isn't attention span going down with the rise of the Internet?

Artnstuff• 14 years ago

That ending, "And I still know how to party." That's so haunting, and messed up. That we read about lives and tragedies like watching a movie.

anamaxa1• 14 years ago

I read that more as an indication of psychopathy on the part of the killer.

The Spectacle of Tragedy

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