Comments on: On Cruelty and Journalism

By: Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:01:33 +0000

I didn’t read this entire column, because it’s pretty much wrong. Where exactly is journalism involved? Abu Ghraib was not documented by journalists. There were shot by the guards. And, hey here is news for you: Taping/Recording human misery is how you document human misery. I would argue that the bulk of incredibly cruel video available immediately (people randomly beating the crap out of people and taping it and posting it online) is actually a good thing. People don’t really believe what aholes people are unless they actually witness.

One more thing. You base this entire post on a video which may or may not tell the entire story. There is some compelling argument that the parents who punked the kid, did it because they bought him an Xbox 360 and apparently caught him trying to look at the presents the night before Christmas. To teach him a lesson about not looking at the presents before hand, they swapped the Xbox360 out for clothes. He apparently did receive the game console moments later but they did not tape that. Is this true? I don’t know. You’re the “journalist.” Go find out.

By: Steven Augustine

Steven Augustine — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:08:16 +0000

pssssst….”Empathize”

By: Zdenek

Zdenek — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:18:21 +0000

But, if it’s the camera that separates from emotion, how would you explain the reaction of both parents?

Inevitably, only one parent is recording (looking through the viewfinder) while the other is looking at the scene without an additional lens. Does the simple fact of recording, no matter who’s recording, create this emotional distance?

And, something else, too: it’s the combination of camera and internet that allows us to see this type of stuff. Who knows if ancient Babylonians or Greeks or Hebrews didn’t have the same impulses — less only the means to express themselves to such a wide audience.

Interesting post.

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:04:57 +0000

I might be tempted to say that you’re comparing apples and oranges with the notion that this idiotic tape and the pictures from Abu Ghraib are even remotely similar, but I don’t think I can. They both operate on the same level of cruelty and wanting to relive its affects over and over again in some perverse form of posterity, in the case of the video, I assume it was filmed just for the purposes of posting on the internet, and theAbu Ghraib posts were saved for who knows what reason, probably some repressed or expressed form of homophobia and bizarre titillation.
What I find interesting, though, is the seemingly naive reaction you’re having now. This has been going on for quite some time, in case you haven’t noticed. Girls Gone Wild, Bum Fights, and all other sorts of incredibly cruel and crude videos litter the internet and our culture. Why so disgusted after seeing a stupid tape of a kid being the brunt of a stupid joke?

By: jh

jh — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:06:42 +0000

Not sure if this matters, but slightly down the page (in between the seemingly unceasing racist posts), someone posted this:

“according to the “about this video” of the original vid : “My mom decides to buy my brother an Xbox 360 for christmas. We leave that night and return the next morning to find he has sneaked a look….just as my mom thought he would, this is the result…and yes he did get the game i will try to post the second video”

So, cruel, yes, but potentially less heartless than you might think. Potentially, anyway.

(America is still deeply, deeply fucked up. That much I agree with.)