In the Agora: Grief as Self-Indulgence

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April 23, 2007

Grief as Self-Indulgence

Convincing ourselves that we've been vicariously traumatized by the pain of strangers has become a cherished national pastime. Thus, the Washington Post this week accompanied online stories about the shooting with a clickable sidebar, "Where to Find Support" -- apparently on the assumption that the mere experience of glancing at articles about the tragedy would be so emotionally devastating that readers would require trained therapists.

....Count me out. There's something fraudulent about this eagerness to latch onto the grief of others and embrace the idea that we, too, have been victimized. This trivializes the pain felt by those who have actually lost something and pathologizes normal reactions to tragedy. Empathy is good, but feeling shocked and saddened by the shootings doesn't make us traumatized or special -- these feelings make us normal.

via Kevin Drum, who lashes out at the media, the so-called "Tragedy Industry." A more evocative title comes from the Economist's Democracy in America blog, "Trauma Porn"

I get tired when people whine about "the media" as though it is some big, menacing monster that shovels crap we are duty-bound to consume. Anyone who complains about the insipid salaciousness of television news spends too much time watching it. But when it comes to the unbridled broadcast of Cho's public-relations package, it would be wise to think about just what kind of people would be glued to their sets, taking it all in.

In other words, we have no one to blame for the media beast but ourselves (or at least the people with Nielsen boxes). Considering that the Virginia Tech student government have asked the media to leave, we've not been 'vicariously traumatized' -- we've been vicariously shamed.

Posted by Zach Wendling at April 23, 2007 09:31 PM

Comments

Spot on.

Posted by: philosopher at April 23, 2007 10:02 PM | permalink

Great post.

Posted by: Joshua Claybourn at April 23, 2007 10:08 PM | permalink

Ditto.

Posted by: John at April 24, 2007 01:06 AM | permalink

Nice.

I tend to view the media environment -- that's redundant, I guess -- as slightly toxic. I like to wallow in it from time to time, but you have to realize what you're soaking in. And, the best way to do that is to get out of it from time to time.

Posted by: Doug at April 24, 2007 09:59 AM | permalink

Managed not to watch anything from the stuff sent to NBC. I don't need the media to explain this to me. Many years ago I think after the Texas tower shootings my wife asked me the question the media has asked again and again. "Why would he do this?"
My responses was simple, "You'd better hope I don't know."

Posted by: Mike O at April 24, 2007 12:21 PM | permalink

April 23, 2007

Grief as Self-Indulgence

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