Obsessing over Anna Nicole
Have they buried Anna Nicole Smith yet?Are you kidding? Ms. Smith may be dead , but there’s too much fun still to be reaped from her story to let it die just yet. This is world-class entertainment: Larry King, “Today,” CNN, The New York Times.Even the judge in the televised hearing over what to do with Ms. Smith’s remains is milking his 15 minutes.”When we were kids we were taught not to laugh at people who were obviously mentally or emotionally disturbed. With Ms. Smith, who was deeply and unmistakably disturbed, we put her on television and laughed and laughed. Would she say something stupid, or spill out of her dress, or pass out in public from booze or drugs? How hysterically funny!Then her son died. Then she died, leaving an orphaned infant daughter. Instead of turning away , we homed in . Whatever entertainment value Ms. Smith had when she was alive increased exponentially when she was kind enough to die for us. Now she’s on the tube around the clock.The story, as they say, has legs.There are other stories out there, but they aren’t nearly as much fun. The Times reported Last week, for example, that Al Qaeda is getting its act together in Pakistan and is setting up training camps in an area that, apparently, we don’t dare trespass in.According to the article, “American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.”The article went on to say, ominously, “The United States has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan.”
Have they buried Anna Nicole Smith yet?Are you kidding? Ms. Smith may be dead , but there’s too much fun still to be reaped from her story to let it die just yet. This is world-class entertainment: Larry King, “Today,” CNN, The New York Times.Even the judge in the televised hearing over what to do with Ms. Smith’s remains is milking his 15 minutes.”When we were kids we were taught not to laugh at people who were obviously mentally or emotionally disturbed. With Ms. Smith, who was deeply and unmistakably disturbed, we put her on television and laughed and laughed. Would she say something stupid, or spill out of her dress, or pass out in public from booze or drugs? How hysterically funny!Then her son died. Then she died, leaving an orphaned infant daughter. Instead of turning away , we homed in . Whatever entertainment value Ms. Smith had when she was alive increased exponentially when she was kind enough to die for us. Now she’s on the tube around the clock.The story, as they say, has legs.There are other stories out there, but they aren’t nearly as much fun. The Times reported Last week, for example, that Al Qaeda is getting its act together in Pakistan and is setting up training camps in an area that, apparently, we don’t dare trespass in.According to the article, “American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.”The article went on to say, ominously, “The United States has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan.”
((((((Follow Up )))))).....When "we" said we'll find them "anywhere"
well smoke em "out of there holes" dead or alive ???um.... seems they've "Stopped" hiding. Perhaps now we can hold Them Accountable for the lives they Stole!!! (continue) I imagine that there are a fair number of television viewers and newspaper readers who have trouble distinguishing the relative importance of celebrity stories, like the death of Anna Nicole Smith, from other matters in the news, ((((((Follow Up )))))).....The Media seems to have trouble distinguishing the relative importance of celebrity stories, like the death of Anna Nicole Smith, from other matters in the news as well, many times the American Public that "doesn't ACTively seek out NEWS" they wont "get" It . Think about sitting and "watching" Fox "news" from 6 to 10 pm .. not unusual ? Now Think about watcing "McNeil Leher Report" for 4 straight hours ???
we haven't Been getting NEWS for some time! I was amazed that while the Congress debates the Detainie Bill , News Agency's chose to focus on a pedifile's return from the Orient ? possible assasination attempt on Cheney we heard how Al gores light bill was high last month?? (((Continue)))
It’s been obvious for the longest time that the line between news and entertainment has vanished. News is entertainment. And the death of Anna Nicole Smith is more entertaining — for the time being, at least — than the war in Iraq or the plodding machinations of bin Laden and Zawahri. The nation may be at war, and Al Qaeda may be gearing up for a rematch. But that’s no fun, not when the thrill-a-minute watch over Anna Nicole’s remains is still the hottest thing on TV.It was Neil Postman who warned in 1985 that we were amusing ourselves to death. I’m not sure anyone knew how literally to take him.More than 20 years later, the masses(MEDIA) have nearly succeeded in drawing the curtains on anything that’s not entertaining. No one can figure out what to do about Iraq or Al Qaeda. A great American cultural center like New Orleans was all but washed away, and no one knows how to put it back together. The ice caps are melting and Al Gore is traveling the land like the town crier, raising the alarm about global warming.But none of that has really gotten the public’s attention. None of it is amusing enough. As a nation of spectators, we seem content to sit with a pizza and a brew in front of the high-def flat-screen TV, obsessing over Anna Nicole et al., and giving no thought to the possibility that the calamitous events unfolding in the world may someday reach our doorsteps .
Contains Eliments of: Thats Entertainment;Who needs news?
Written by: Bob Herbet of The NY Times Article apeared 2/23/07 nytimes.com/2005/07/18/opinion/18herbert.html
