The Golden Bachelorette, Trump’s Lies, and War in the Middle East - Who Knew How Closely They’re All Connected...
…really
(Excuse the quality of the image. I did my best to capture this off my morning Yahoo feed and this is what I came up with.)
In general, I’m not a fan of news, news feeds, news channels, newscasters, or newsy YouTubers from East Lansing who have their own spin on current events.
But I am a huge fan of humor satire and irony.
And after I caught a glimpse of the top three stories this morning, I couldn’t help but think – are we missing something when we can group the continuing threat of war in the Middle East, the ongoing lies of an ex-president, and our good fortune that the Golden Bachelorette TV show is more watchable than the Golden Bachelor?
I think we are. I think we slipped over the edge just a little into the Land of Nod where a kiss on the cheek or a punch in the face are comparable acts because roughly the same parts are involved.
Someone rigged pagers and walkie-talkies to explode on command.
That’s right out of a Sci-fi novel or wartime manual. After reading how these acts may escalate an already dangerous situation between Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Israel we neatly segue over to Trump’s rising stats – he pretty much lies all the time now.
Then to the joy, someone got out of watching an engaging reality TV show where some woman goes through a selection of men, like a sommelier through a wine-tasting marathon in the hopes of landing the perfect husband. All filmed in color of course.
When I was growing up reality was what I ran into every day. The traffic at the corner I had to cross walking to school. The school lunches that were not nearly as good as Mom’s cooking. Bullies in the playground, on the streets, in the classrooms.
Leaving Brooklyn and heading to the burbs. Dad dying young. The Vietnam War.
That’s what I remember and no one that I knew spent a moment trying to create something even more challenging than what we were greeted with each morning.
But today is different. Today crazy brides, love-starved ex-felons, and pretend Robinson Crusoes stranded on desert islands trying to stay alive (while being filmed by a TV crew) are provided for entertainment.
But when you watch some of these shows and witness the pain, stress, disillusionment, and anger when things don’t go as people would like, why do we find this distracting?
Is it because the boss is screaming at someone else? Or perhaps it’s because the love interest is manifesting PTSD from past failed relationships and we are thankful that, yes, it’s not happening to us?
I’m not sure.
As a writer I’m just observing what’s out there and seeing lies, death and bachelors in love all grouped in one sweep of the eye, makes me think we’re all rather stuck in some dystopian fairytale, where this actually makes sense.
On some level seeing terrorists get some of what they’ve been dishing out throughout the world may feel rewarding, for about 10 seconds, then we realize that humans – men, women, and children – were involved. And from a 10,000-foot – I’m a human too perspective - it’s all very disheartening what we keep doing to one another.
In years past, more than a few, less than a hundred, if we didn’t like the news, we turned it off and skipped picking up the daily rag at the newsstand.
Today we need our phones. They keep us in touch, show us the way through the freeways, what the weather will be, the latest sales, the mortgage rate we’ve been waiting for.
And the price for all of this convenience is a near-constant feed of news, bad news, exciting news, depressing news, old news, and an all-powerful algorithm that is reaching into our hearts, minds, and recent viewing history to give us more of whatever IT thinks we need.
And apparently, bachelorettes, lies, and death are somehow compatible. Who knew?
At times I’ve wished for a return to the “good ole days” and I admit there’s a part of me that appreciates the quiet, less stressful times of the ’60 and ’70. At least as I saw it. But they weren’t without pain and anxiety to spare.
It’s just that, those days came at us at a pace we had a chance at keeping up with. In today’s world information is Niagara Falls compared to an old fire hydrant back then.
It’s too much, too often with too little regard for what the reader or viewer can process without going fucking out of their minds with worry and stress.
All the images and words have a purpose: See me, follow me, buy me, please. And there’s no one regulating the volume.
In the ’60s, TV channels went off the air at midnight or thereabouts. A drag if you couldn’t sleep but there was always a book.
Today news, entertainment, sports, and distractions are 24/7/365 in 200 languages.
When I wish for a return to the past, I guess I’m only wishing for a chance to keep up, not get overwhelmed, and not let the algorithms determine the kind of person I’m still becoming.
Great point regarding the slower pace of (bad) news back in the day, how it provided time to adjust. It's all so overwhelming I'm tempted to run from it - no news feeds, no MSNBC, no Maher et all.. It'd be easier to do if Trump/MAGA weren't looming. I feel obligated now to keep abreast of what's happening as I do what I can to ensure the Hideous won't happen.