Victim - Critical Thinking = Hero

In our 13 minute attention grabbing ratings generating watered down Jack everyman style news program driven culture, there are only two ludicrous extremes to go to if channel -whatever- news wants anyone to pay on iota of attention; They either have to tell the sick and gritty tale of hideous murder or unspeakable tragedy, or they have to pull some hero story out of their ass to make it sound like they 'cover the happy stories too.' Not a bad way to strive for some balance in an industry where you literally have to convince people something they're doing right this minute will KILL THEM if they don't tune into Bob and Mike at 11. Never you mind the fact that all but the last four minutes of a two day give-a-shit-athon about whatever white chick recently got raped is all graphic depictions of her horrifying ordeal and detailed transcripts of every molestation encounter, drug forced down her throat or beating, and very little 'happy' news. It's one of the 'good' stories, all about how resilient and enduring the human spirit can be under the most gruesome of circumstances. Speaking of gruesome here is an actual audio recording of something large being inserted into 12 year old Natalie's...*and this is where I frantically click the 'back' button and hope to god this isn't going to land me on some list*

You see, no one listens to those stories to hear of how the person in question triumphed over adversity, they tune in to listen to how ghastly people can be to each other. To hear the most unspeakable of taboos re-told in all their hideous glory. Then they think tacking some bullshit about what a 'hero' the victim will make the people reading a play by play of an underage rape is anything less than a certifiable fucking sicko. And while we're on the subject of heroism...what the hell did any of these people do that's 'heroic'?

Surviving? Just not being dead is now a praise worthy endeavor? What other option did they have during their months in captivity, learn some vietnam p.o.w. camp heart beat stopping trick to end their own lives and thus be slightly less heroic in the eyes of the general public? Scratch that, kids who kill themselves are -also- considered heroic, as long as they were bullied and don't go on a killing spree in a public forum beforehand. So that's the standard we, as a country, are holding to young people today; please don't shoot us too and you're good to go. Also if you could kindly get raped in some dude's basement for a month or two before that would be super.

Not that I'm saying we shouldn't discuss these types of stories and let the people know that letting your 6 year old daughter out to play for 4 hours without checking on her might land her in a tent in a sex offenders backyard for the foreseeable future, I'm just saying 'She was kidnapped, molested and beaten' is sufficient information on the subject. Do we really -need- to have jurors listen to actual audio recordings of Jeffs gang molesting his horde of spirit wives? Not really, no. Do we really -need- to have Elizabeth Smart's face shoved in front of us every five minutes while her father weeps and graphically reminds us all of the tragedy she suffered? No. Do we need an entire weekend on True Crime dedicated to describing and re-describing the Jaycee Duggar build your own rape victims by investing in one rape victim scheme? Wtf?! No. Jesus. Just stop.
Stop telling us what atrocities these girls suffered while waving fourth grade school pictures of them in front of us like fucking super villians trying out a new form of mind control device.
Because it works.
We can't feel like good people when we say 'Wow I've had enough of this crap' and go back to surfing yo-yo contest videos when the details start wedging themselves into our minds like pity seeking missiles. We have no choice but to listen to the whole thing, because she went through all that, the least I can do is listen and call her an amazing wonderful brilliant shining star of a person for having not died through all that. And if for any reason we forget and try to let those people move on with their lives, they are once again brought to the forefront by the trial that took 8 months to get rolling or the jury selection, or the memoirs that have just been published, or the heartwarming story about how they are being handed an opportunity none of us will ever be able to try and take advantage of because our youth consisted of school, cartoons and Cosmo-girls magazines rather than living as a cultist sex-slave. They are not heroes because they do not want to be left alone to move on and make something of themselves. They want to re-live their suffering as many times as possible over as many mediums as they can to glean as much income as they can off of their situation. How is this not prostitution? Getting money for sex you had...particularly deviant sex none the less. But we are helpless against it. There's this delightful combination of us feeling like we give any amount of shit about these people and the sick part of our darkest souls that want to hear all the blood guts and horror that forces us against our own conscious will to listen, pity, and idolize these victims.

Elizabeth Smart does not deserve a spot on the abc news. She is awkward on camera, she has an unpleasant voice, she is not very interesting or cute or articulate, she doesn't have the kind of regal commanding presence news casters should have, she sure as hell doesn't seem like the kind of person the public can relate to (oh, you were a hardcore locked in the house Mormon until you were kidnapped and ritually raped by an even crazier old Mormon?! No way! Me too!) and her face looks like the younger version of the forever alone guy. All round but misshapen. Ugh. She got the part over deserving candidates with degrees in journalism and hating Conservatives (whatever they do at abc) because her father made it his personal business to get his otherwise mediocre or less daughter as much notoriety as possible by parading her around like a sodomized show pony, and is basking in the gentle glow of the spotlight he didn't have to fellate a crazy old man for. And this is the part of the story we are supposed to consider a 'triumph'. Sounds to me like the victimization is still going in full swing, and the only way she would really be a dignified amazing heroine would be to shut the fuck up and work for a living like the rest of us. Be ashamed of what happened. It's nothing to be fucking proud of. You don't walk up to everyone you meet, especially in a job interview and announce you have farted 74 times in the past month. Sure it's a part of who you are, it's nothing you should take great care to hide...but it's gross and no one should be forced to think of you in that light. And they do. They have no choice. From now on you'll be 74 times farting girl. Congratulations. Everyone is disgusted by you but feels bad enough for you to try to give you your way.

Also, color me Satan but I can't look at her face without seeing that blithering madman's penis. And I don't think I'm alone in that. In fact, I think that's the driving force behind her 'success'. No socially conscious person would dare say 'Wow this chick sucks in front of a camera, is kind of slow and pretty unattractive' because all they can see is some withered old man doing gross stuff to her under aged body, which stirs in them pity and to make up for noticing what a non-special non-heroic whiny media circus of a human being she is, they have to spit out whatever undeserved praise pops to mind with all haste. She is kind of stuttering alot...SHE'S AN INCREDIBLE YOUNG WOMAN!!! *whew*

Pitiful...but not in a good way...
SAM:)