Interesting Thought

[GSibble]

Most of you, like me, are probably glued to a tv, constantly switching between FOXNEWS, CNN, and MSNBC, desperately looking for any of the newest information as we watch tanks plow through Iraq live.
Did anyone ever notice that on these channels now is the greatest reality TV show ever created? "WAR" It's a hell of a lot better than watching people fight over food or something dumb. We are desperately watching people trying to kill other people with violent explosions, tanks, firefights, jet planes, and lots of cool bombs. Don't get me wrong, I do think death is deplorable and should not be taken lightly, but

what is so different about the death we are now addicted to watching on CNN than gladiator battles of ancient Rome?

Are they not almost the same thing, except now our wars are a little more "civilized"? Just wanted to hear some people's thoughts on that.

-George

[Janak Parekh]

Did anyone ever notice that on these channels now is the greatest reality TV show ever created?
Heh. Here's an opposing perspective: I hate reality TV, and I hate watching the war coverage on all of the major networks. It's extremely repetitive, and I can get all the stuff I want from news.google.com or cnn.com in a fraction of the time.

In fact, I've almost entirely stopped watching TV right now.

BTW, everyone: please avoid the flames! We don't want to have to throw this thread into the Hall...

--janak

[Lotto]

Funny, I don't get the same knot in my stomach watching an hour of Survivor, like I do watching the war coverage. YMMV.

[JvanEkris]

IMHO, there is one vital difference. In this reality show, real people get killed or at least injured on both sides. I rather see another dull TV show and see those people live.

Jaap

[Dave Beauvais]

If you get UPN on your cable or satellite service, watch for a rerun of the Twilight Zone episode, "How Much do You Love Your Kid?" (The new TZ hosted by Forrest Whittaker.) Two sentence summary: HMDYLYK crew kidnaps your child and you have one hour to find him or her. If you find the child, you win a $500,000. It's a very interesting commentary on "reality" television.

As to the subject of this thread, I agree with Jaap... people die in war. At least for now, people don't die on TV game shows. It's two entirely different things, and I certainly don't find the war coverage even the least bit entertaining. (Although I don't find "reality TV" the least bit entertaining, either; I'd rather go outside and experience true reality than sit in front of a TV watching some stupid show.)

--Dave

[Kaber]

I'm streaming video of BBC news from DirecTV to one iPAQ via windows media encoder on my PC, I have CNN on the TV, and streaming NPR radio to my other iPAQ. Its like a bad acid trip.

Its like they're all reading the same script of some horrible action movie where the red, white, and blue good guys have to save an impoverished nation of refugees from some mad dictator who has multiple clones.

Oh, and I'm playing Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat (http://desertcombat.com) mod at the same time.